BS  2417  .E3  D3  1922  c.l 
Darby,  James  Ezra,  1856- 
Jesus,  an  economic  mediator 


■Tf 


Jesus 
An  Economic  Mediator 

God's  Remedy  for  Industrial 
and  International  Ills 


V 


N»'  '  CU 


\ 


Jesus      x%oScAk5^' 
An  Economic  Mediator 


God's  Remedy  for  Industrial 
and  International  Ills 


•     By 
JAMES  E.VDARBY,  Ph.  D.,  D.D. 

Pastor,  First  Baptist  Church,  New  Brighton,  Pa. 

Author  of  "Darby's  Old  Testament  Charts,"   "An 
Analysis  of  the  Acts  and  Epistles,"  etc. 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming    H.    Revell     Company 

London       and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1922,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London :  2 1  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh ;      75     Princes     Street 


Foreword 

THIS  book  does  not  pretend  to  be  the  Media- 
tor: that  function  belongs  to  the  Son  of 
Man.  It  does  not  pretend  to  be  an  economic 
interpretation  of  the  New  Testament:  that  is  too 
large  a  task  for  so  small  a  work.  It  is  but  a  modest 
attempt  to  show  the  need  of  a  Mediator,  and  of  a 
reinterpretation  of  His  words,  and  also  to  illustrate 
some  ways  in  which  a  new  light  might  break  out  of 
the  Old  Book,  and  by  which  it  might  be  given  its 
rightful  place  in  industrialism  and  internationalism. 
This  would  add  immeasurably  to  human  happiness 
and  bring  added  honour  to  the  Man  of  Galilee. 

In  the  midst  of  changing  thought  and  world-wide 
unrest,  Jesus  Christ  still  stands  as  the  central  figure. 
In  Him,  but  in  no  other,  all  can  unite.  The  economic, 
social,  industrial  and  international  phases  of  His 
teaching  have  been  obscured.  The  emphasis  has  been 
put  upon  the  spiritual,  to  the  neglect  of  its  material, 
aspects. 

That  the  spiritual  is  of  chief  concern  is  not  for  a 
moment  denied ;  but  on  the  material  side  will  be  found 
some  of  the  rich  treasures  of  His  storehouse  of  in- 
finite wisdom.  The  spiritual  side  of  His  teaching  is 
well  established:  there  He  is  the  Mediator.     This 

5 


6  FOEEWOED 

work  does  not  seek  to  detract  an  iota  from  it.  It 
only  pleads  for  Jesus'  ideal  of  salvation  for  the  whole 
person — for  a  spiritual,  mental,  moral  and  physical 
salvation.  We  owe  it  to  Him  to  give  Him  the  place 
of  Mediator  in  industrial  and  international  matters. 
We  owe  it  to  capital  and  labour  to  provide  a  Mediator 
who  is  just,  fair  and  impartial. 

The  same  application  of  Jesus'  teaching  that  would 
banish  industrial  and  economic  misunderstandings,  if 
applied  to  international  problems,  would  cause  wars 
to  cease.  War  prevention  is  treated  but  briefly,  since 
the  same  principles  apply  to  both.  A  Mediator  for 
human  differences  would  settle  war  problems,  as  truly 
as  the  problems  of  industrialism.  In  fact,  the  prob- 
lem is  one, — namely,  the  problem  of  human  differ- 
ences. 

The  development  of  the  theme  seems  to  require 
more  than  merely  textual  exegesis,  since  present-day 
democracy,  industrialism  and  internationalism  are  the 
growth  of  certain  forms  of  thought.  These  thought- 
forms  are  closely  linked  with  evolutionary  theories, 
the  monarchical  philosophy  of  the  centuries,  and  also 
the  struggle  for  liberty  from  the  days  of  King  John, 
at  Runnymede,  to  the  settling  of  America,  and  the 
development  of  her  resources  which  has  given  the 
United  States  her  place  among  the  nations  of  the 
world.  This  will  account  for  some  historical  matter, 
which  otherwise  might  seem  irrelevant. 

Considerable  space  is  given  to  Roman  customs  and 
slavery,  as  it  is  there  that  infection  seems  to  have 
entered  the  ecclesiastical  body;  and  to* make  effective 


FOREWOED  7 

the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus  it  is  necessary  to  sepa- 
rate what  He  taught  from  the  accumulations  which 
became  more  or  less  closely  associated  with  it  in  the 
early  years  of  Christian  theology. 

In  his  Introduction  to  Political  Economy,  R.  T. 
Ely  defines  the  word  "  economic"  in  the  sense  in 
which  it  is  generally  used  throughout  these  chapters: 
"  In  so  far  as  man  is  engaged  in  efforts  to  secure  ma- 
terial goods  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  wants,  we  may 
speak  of  his  activity  as  '  economic,'  and  the  regular 
succession  of  these  efforts  we  may  call  his  economic 
life."  It  will  be  found  set  over  against  spiritual 
values,  in  most  instances.  We  use  it  in  general  as 
the  science  which  treats  of  the  development  of  ma- 
terial resources  and  the  means  and  methods  of  living 
well,  for  the  family  and  the  individual.  It  is  used  in 
the  sense  of  political  economy  only  when  it  is  applied 
to  matters  of  state. 

It  is  impossible  to  acknowledge  separately  all 
sources  from  which  help  has  been  received.  Direct 
quotations  are  indicated,  and  in  most  instances  the 
authors  are  given.  However,  much  that  has  passed 
through  the  author's  mind  is  given  in  his  own  words, 
while  doubtless  the  thoughts  belong  to  others.  No 
small  part  of  the  suggestive  material  has  been  drawn 
from  the  mill  workers,  owners  and  managers  in  the 
busy  industrial  district  of  which  Pittsburgh,  Pennsyl- 
vania, is  the  center.  The  chapters  were  penned  in 
such  bits  of  time  as  could  be  spared  from  a  busy  pas- 
torate in  that  city. 

Before  being  woven  into  book  form,  the  substance 


8  FOEEWOED 

of  most  of  these  chapters  was  used  in  addresses  to 
audiences  composed  largely  of  workingmen,  with  al- 
ways a  few  employers  present.  One  of  them  deliv- 
ered before  a  ministers'  conference  invoked  two  pri- 
vate criticisms  which  have  been  kept  in  mind  in  the 
preparation  of  the  volume.  The  first  was  by  a 
veteran  newspaper  man,  not  a  minister,  who  came  to 
hear  the  paper,  and  who  said: 

"  That  was  a  fine  address,  but  it  overshot  the  mark. 
Labouring  men  do  not  understand  such  presentations, 
and  cannot  be  led  to  follow  such  lines  of  argument." 

Then  it  was  explained  that  the  address  had  been 
given  to  an  audience  of  working  folks  and  employers 
before  it  was  brought  to  the  ministers,  and  that  the 
workingmen  had  requested  its  repetition  at  another 
place.  They  both  understood  and  appreciated  it. 
Not  all  workingmen  and  employers  have  been  ready 
to  accept  all  the  conclusions  of  the  addresses,  but  they 
have  always  understood  them.  Of  course  they  were 
intelligent,  thoughtful  men.  That  which  men  under- 
stand in  speech  they  will  the  more  fully  understood  in 
print.  This  will  explain  the  plain,  untechnical,  and  in 
some  instances  unscientific,  method  of  presentation. 
It  has  been  written  for  the  general  reader,  not  for  the 
scholar  and  investigator  who  has  time  and  libraries 
at  his  disposal.  Foundation  truths  are  dealt  with, 
rather  than  theories  which  as  yet  have  but  an  aca- 
demic interest. 

The  other  very  friendly  and  suggestive  criticism 
was  this: 


FOEEWOED  9 

"  Bible    students,    and    especially    ministers,    already 

know  that  the  gospel  of  Jesus  applied  to  economic  and 
international  problems  would  bring  about  their  happy 
solution.     There  is  no  need  to  argue  that  point." 

Of  course  they  do.  They  know  a  great  deal  more 
about  it  than  these  pages  attempt  to  present.  How- 
ever, their  knowledge  doesn't  seem  to  have  functioned 
in  the  control  of  the  forces  which  make  for  industrial 
confidence  and  international  peace.  Admitting  the 
efficacy  of  the  remedy,  and  having  diagnosed  the  dis- 
ease, it  yet  remains  to  apply  the  remedy  to  the  dis- 
ease, and  that  under  conditions  which  are  favourable 
to  a  response  to  treatment.  Is  not  this  the  weak  spot 
in  the  effort  to  cure  industrial  ills?  This  work  pre- 
sents a  method  of  application  which  the  author  be- 
lieves has  not  been  presented  heretofore,  and  which 
is  in  keeping  with  the  democracy  of  the  age,  the  trend 
of  to-day's  thought,  and  the  teaching  of  the  Master — 
the  remedy  which  divine  wisdom  has  prescribed.  Re- 
membering the  suggestion  that  the  remedy  is  already 
known,  emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  its  application 
— upon  the  method  of  treatment — rather  than  upon 
the  specific  qualities  of  the  remedy. 

In  selecting  the  data  that  is  presented,  only  that  has 
been  chosen  which  it  is  believed  will  demonstrate 
some  of  the  ways  in  which  the  remedy  may  be  ap- 
plied, and  will  show  the  fuller  mission  of  Jesus  as 
Mediator  of  the  Second  Commandment,  as  well  as 
the  First. 

It  is  believed  that  the  book  has  a  place  and  a  mis- 
sion peculiarly  its  own.    A  careful  reading  will  show 


10  FOREWORD 

at  least  three  lines  of  value  which  justify  its  exist- 
ence: 

It  outlines  a  new  background  and  a  new  setting  for 
the  interpretation  of  Jesus'  teaching;  it  suggests 
special  economic  relationships  which  give  a  wider 
meaning  to  His  messages ;  and  it  will  be  found  unique 
in  its  presentation  of  a  new  position  of  high  honour 
and  untold  usefulness  to  which  the  Son  of  Man 
should  be  exalted, — namely,  that  of  Mediator  in  all 
social,  industrial  and  international  transactions. 
There  is  crying  need  for  such  mediation. 

The  problem  in  bygone  ages 
Was  war,  and  work,  and  wages — 

And  war  stood  first. 
The  problem  now  pressing  sore 
Is  work,  and  wage,  and  war — 

The  order  we've  reversed. 

Alas!  that  is  about  all  that  we  have  done.  If  we 
know  the  solution,  happy  are  we  if  we  have  the  cour- 
age to  apply  the  remedy. 

This  work  is  offered  not  as  a  substitute  for  the  ac- 
cepted interpretations  of  Scripture — and  certainly  not 
to  antagonize  them — but  as  a  modest  contribution  to- 
ward the  application  of  God's  remedy  to  the  world's 
woe,  through  the  reconciling  of  hostile  interest  and 
the  establishing  of  right  personal  relationships.  May 
it  be  so  used  as  to  help  to  insure  peace,  prosperity  and 
happiness,  as  well  as  brighten  the  hope  of  heaven! 

J.  E.  D. 

New  Brighton,  Pa. 


Contents 

I.  The  Mediatorial  Mission  of  the  Mas- 

ter      13 

II.  Why  the  Quest  for  a  Mediator  and 

His  Code  ? 26 

III.  Code  and  Creed  a  Present  Need  .         .       41 

IV.  Democracy   Dominant  in  the  Old 

Testament 52 

V.  Slavery  Imposed  by  Rome      ...      64 

VI.  Mediatorial  Insurgency        .        .        .      75 

VII.  The  Mediator  and  the  Common  People      86 


VIII.  The  Kingdom   of  God  the  Field  and 

Force  of  the  Mediator 

IX.  Dead  Men  Win  No  Victories  in  His 

Kingdom     


X.  Equality  in  Code  and  Conduct     . 

XI.  Sin,  Suffering  and  Want 

XII.  The  Making  and  Using  of  Money  . 

XIII.  Communism  or  Capitalism  ?    . 

XIV.  Economics  in  the  Judgment  Code  . 

XV.  The  Mediator's  Remedy  for   Strikes 

and  Wars 

11 


99 

1 10 
122 

135 

146 

159 

172 

183 


12  CONTENTS 

XVI.  Rejection,  Crucifixion,  Destruction  .     195 

XVII.  An  Imperialized  Democracy         .  .210 

XVIII.  The  Kingdom  Ideal  Enswathed    .  .223 

XIX.  Back  to  the  Mediator  .        .        .  .236 

XX.  Solidarity  of  Interests        .        .  .251 


THE  MEDIATORIAL  MISSION  OF  THE 
MASTER 

"  There  is  one  God,  one  Mediator  also  between  God 
and  men,  himself  man,  Christ  Jesus." — i  Timothy  a:  5. 

WHEREIN  is  the  after-death  influence  and 
power  of  Jesus  different  from  that  of  the 
world's  great  men?  The  Apostle  Paul 
systematized  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  through  his 
missionary  achievement  and  the  force  of  his  writ- 
ings has  immortalized  himself;  but  no  one  thinks  of 
ascribing  to  the  Apostle  the  after-death  power  that 
belongs  to  his  Master. 

Shakespeare  still  exerts  a  mighty  influence  through 
the  power  of  literature;  Darwin  through  the  teach- 
ing of  a  new  science  of  creation ;  the  great  thinkers  of 
ancient  Greece  by  their  systems  of  philosophy; 
Moses,  the  mediator  of  the  Old  Covenant,  through 
the  ethical  teaching  of  the  Ten  Commandments  and 
the  legal  code  which  he  compiled. 

However,  Moses  died,  the  Grecian  philosophers 
have  departed,  the  great  thinkers  are  known  only  by 
their  works  which  they  have  left,  and  Paul  has  gone 
to  receive  his  crown.  "  Being  dead  they  yet  speak," 
it  is  true,  but  do  they  speak  in  the  same  sense  in  which 
Jesus  speaks?  Is  His  after-death  voice  and  power 
as  theirs,  or  is  there  the  imperative  of  personality  in 

*3 


14  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

Him  that  is  not  found  in  others  ?  He  speaks  as  a  liv- 
ing person  who  is,  rather  the  reverberating  voice  of 
one  who  was.  As  waves  upon  a  quiet  lake  lose  force 
as  they  recede  from  the  point  at  which  the  water  was 
stirred,  so  does  the  influence  of  earth's  greatest  men 
lessen  with  the  passing  of  the  centuries.  It  is  not  so 
with  Jesus:  never  was  He  so  forceful  as  now.  His 
influence  in  the  world  is  constantly  accelerated  by  a 
mystic  power  which  adds  to  its  momentum.  To-day 
He  appeals  to  us  as  a  living  Person,  rather  than  one 
who  once  lived,  taught  and  wrought,  and  then  passed 
away.  Through  history,  literature  and  art,  the  in- 
fluence of  worthy  men  lives  after  them,  but  in  the 
consciousness  of  every  devout  thinker  Jesus  Christ  is 
both  a  Power  and  a  living  Person,  unique,  sublime 
and  different  from  any  other  person  who  ever  passed 
the  portals  of  death.     Why? 

The  fact  of  His  resurrection  is  not  a  sufficient  ex- 
planation; for  the  circumstances  of  their  deaths,  and 
their  presence  in  the  Transfiguration  scene,  prove 
that  at  least  Moses  and  Elijah  had  risen  and  no  such 
power  is  attributed  to  them.  Perhaps  a  partial  an- 
swer may  be  seen  in  the  purpose  of  His  mission ;  for, 
"  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession." 

Jesus  made  provision  for  His  permanent  presence 
on  earth  after  His  death  by  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  believers.  His  body  would  be  seen  no  more, 
but  His  Spirit  would  operate  through  other  human 
bodies,  which  would  be  surrendered  to  Him,  to  do 
His  will.  Their  feet  would  go  on  errands  of  mercy 
for  Him;  their  hands  would  minister  for  Him,  and 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  MASTER  15 

their  vocal  organs  would  speak  for  Him.  Their 
minds  would  be  filled  with  His  truth  and  their  hearts 
inspired  by  His  love.  Instead  of  one  human  body, 
millions  of  human  bodies  would  become  the  temples 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  constitute  His  body  upon 
earth.  To  one  able  to  bestow  such  power,  death 
would  but  multiply  His  presence  through  the  multi- 
tude of  witnesses  which  would  be  raised  up. 

That  His  Spirit  may  act  otherwise  than  through 
human  bodies,  is  of  course  conceded,  but  this  well- 
recognized  medium  of  His  activities  is  sufficient  to 
prove  that  Jesus  lives  not  the  celestial  life,  alone,  but 
that  His  life  is  so  interwoven  with  the  lives  of  His 
people  that  He  ever  lives  to  make  intercession,  not 
alone  in  heaven  for  them,  but  on  earth  with  them. 

Have  we  yet  conceived  the  force  and  fullness  of  the 
preparation  which  Jesus  made  for  His  after-death 
presence  and  activity  upon  the  earth  ?  "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  always,"  He  said  to  His  disciples.  For 
what  purpose?  That  they  might  go  into  the  world 
and  make  other  disciples,  "  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  In 
these  "  all  things,"  there  is  quite  a  comprehensive 
task.  Have  we  yet  seen  it  in  its  fullness,  or  measured 
its  entirety? 

A  phase  of  it  long  overlooked  may  be  seen  in  His 
Mediatorial  Mission.  In  his  epistle  to  the  Galatians 
(3:  19-20),  Paul  presents  the  fact  of  the  law  having 
been  given  by  the  ministration  of  angels,  but  con- 
veyed to  the  people  by  a  mediator.  Moses,  evidently, 
is  the  mediator  to  whom  he  refers.    The  epistle  to  the 


16  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

Hebrews  contrasts  the  New  Covenant  with  the  Old, 
and  shows  Jesus  to  be  the  Mediator  of  the  New 
(12:  24)  and  also  "the  Mediator  of  a  better  Cove- 
nant" (8:  6)  and  that  through  the  sacrificial  offer- 
ing of  Himself  He  became  the  Mediator  of  the  New 
Covenant,  as  was  Moses  of  the  Old  Covenant,  or 
Testament. 

Two  questions  confront  us:  What  is  the  meaning 
of  "  Mediator,"  and  what  is  included  in  the  New 
Covenant  ? 

By  Mediator  we  understand  one  who  goes  between, 
mediates  differences,  reconciles  parties  at  variance 
with  each  other,  and  brings  about  peace.  The  Greek 
word  MsaiTTjs,  translated  mediator,  is  used  but  six 
times  in  the  New  Testament.  The  passages  in  which 
it  occurs  already  have  been  cited.  Once  it  is  applied 
to  Moses  and  five  times  to  Jesus.  Passages  showing 
Jesus'  work  of  conciliation,  in  which  He  acts  as 
Mediator,  are  numerous  and  abundantly  confirm  the 
teaching  of  these  passages.  Meyers'  Critical  and  Ex- 
egetical  Commentary  summarizes  the  discussion  of 
the  exegetical  meaning  of  First  Timothy  2:  5  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  He  (Jesus)  is  the  mediator  for  both  (God  and  man) 
in  so  far  as  only  through  him  does  God  accomplish  his 
purpose  of  salvation  regarding  men,  and  in  so  far  as 
only  through  him  can  men  reach  the  goal  appointed 
them  by  God." 

What  is  "  the  goal  appointed  men  by  God  "  ?  Is  it 
only  to  enter  heaven  hereafter,  or  to  also  have  some 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  MASTER  17 

part  in  bringing  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  earth? 
Jesus  called  folks  not  to  leave  earth  and  enter  heaven, 
but  to  bring  the  reign  of  heaven  onto  earth.  He  did 
not  put  them  into  heaven,  but  He  put  the  spirit  of 
heaven  into  them — surely  a  part  of  "  the  goal  ap- 
pointed them."  Entrance  into  heaven  is  a  goal  which 
is  happy  to  contemplate,  but  to  have  the  spirit  of 
heaven  enter  the  hearts  of  men  and  give  them  a  fore- 
taste here  and  now  is  a  painful  and  pressing  necessity, 
bearing  in  upon  the  average  man  at  every  angle  of  his 
life.  Can  he  look  to  a  Saviour  who  is  his  Mediator 
between  God  and  his  own  soul,  and  also  a  Mediator 
between  men,  showing  him  that  he  cannot  maintain 
an  attitude  of  righteousness  toward  God  while  prac- 
ticing iniquity  toward  his  fellowmen? 

Jesus  refused  to  be  made  a  king,  withdrawing 
Himself  when  He  was  sought  for  that  purpose. 
When  men  thought  and  spake  in  the  language  of 
monarchy,  He  could  make  Himself  understood  to 
Pilate  only  by  admitting  a  kingship,  but  He  accom- 
panied it  with  the  declaration  that  His  kingdom  is 
not  of  this  world.  He  also  declined  to  be  made  an 
ex  parte  judge,  or  divider,  when  selfishness  sought 
His  help  to  secure  added  shekels  by  compelling  the 
division  of  an  estate.  He  declined  to  be  a  legal, 
"over"  ruler,  but  never  denied  His  gracious  offices 
when  chosen  to  rule  from  within. 

To  His  disciples,  Jesus  was  a  Mediator  between 
them  and  God,  bringing  to  them  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  securing  their  right  relationship  to  Him. 
He  was  also  a  Mediator  between  them  in  their  rela- 


18  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

tionships  one  with  another,  and  with  the  social  and 
business  world  of  which  they  were  a  part.  Their  dif- 
ferences were  referred  to  Him.  He  sympathetically 
bore  their  weaknesses  and  adjusted  their  relations. 
When  the  question  of  divorce  was  referred  to  Him, 
His  mediatorial  interpretation  extended  to  those  who 
were  not  His  disciples.  When  the  woman  was  taken 
in  sin,  like  a  Mediator  He  stood  between  her  and  her 
accusers.  When  the  temple  guard  came  to  arrest  Him, 
He  stood  between  that  armed  force  and  His  disciples, 
hurling  back  the  forces  by  the  majesty  of  His  pres- 
ence. 

His  unsullied  character  stands  forth  in  its  suprem- 
est  grandeur  as  a  Mediator  and  Reconciler.  Through 
His  mediation,  souls  become  reconciled  to  God.  This 
is  essential  as  a  starting-point;  for  men  must  first  be 
reconciled  to  God  before  they  can  be  at  peace  one  with 
another.  The  great  unrest  in  the  world  is  due  largely 
to  the  fact  that  men  have  orphaned  themselves  from 
God:  they  are  adrift  from  home,  know  not  the  Fa- 
ther and  regard  not  their  brothers. 

Paul  presents  Jesus  as  "  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself"  (2  Cor.  5:  19)  and  declares  that  the  pur- 
pose of  God  is  "by  him  to  reconcile  all  things  unto 
himself"  (Col.  1:20). 

That  reconciliation  had  a  primal  place  in  His  mis- 
sion appears  from  such  passages  as  Matthew  5 :  24,  in 
which  it  is  put  before  sacrifice  and  the  worshipper 
is  enjoined  to  first  be  reconciled  to  his  brother.  The 
first  work  laid  upon  His  Church  was  that  of  serving 
as  a  "court  of  conciliation"  (Matt.  18:  17)  by  be- 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  MASTER  19 

coming  a  channel  through  which  His  mediatorial  mis- 
sion could  be  accomplished. 

So  far,  this  view  is  so  conservatively  orthodox  that 
its  statement  seems  a  mere  truism.  We  have  been 
confining  it  to  the  spiritual  relationship  of  the  soul  to 
God.  Is  there  an  ethical  side  to  it?  The  Scriptures 
examined  imply  a  fuller  and  larger  application  of  His 
mediatorial  work  than  has  yet  been  conceded.  There 
is  "  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  himself 
man,  Christ  Jesus."  Is  He  a  Mediator  between  men, 
as  well  as  between  God  and  men?  It  will  be  noticed 
that  He  is  not  a  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  but 
the  plural  "  men  "  is  used,  making  Him  a  Mediator 
between  men. 

What  must  be  included  in  His  reconciling  "  all 
things  unto  God  "  ?  Doubtless  all  that  is  at  variance 
with  God's  purposes — injustice,  wrong-doing,  oppres- 
sion, unfilial  views  of  God  and  unbrotherly  action  to- 
ward men.  It  must  include  national  injustice,  indus- 
trial wrongs,  business  "  crookedness "  and  whatso- 
ever is  out  of  harmony  with  the  law  of  the  Lord. 
Jesus'  mission  as  Mediator  must  be  coextensive  with 
His  commission  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  God. 
This  conception  of  His  mission  will  add  to  His 
honour  and  service  by  enthroning  Him  as  Mediator 
in  all  human  differences — international,  economic  and 
industrial,  as  well  as  a  Mediator  of  spiritual  interests. 

Our  second  inquiry  is  concerning  the  things  in- 
cluded in  the  New  and  better  Covenant  than  that  of 
Moses.  Is  it  purely  spiritual,  or  does  it  have  a  bear- 
ing upon  ethical  and  economic  matters?     Moses,  as 


20  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

the  mediator  of  the  law,  presented  ethical  standards 
covering  every  phase  of  life.  Shall  Jesus,  the  Media- 
tor of  grace,  have  a  narrower  mission  ?  Does  not  the 
whole  Word  of  God  receive  its  power  and  vitality 
through  Him?  If  His  Covenant  does  not  include  rec- 
onciliation between  men,  in  their  differences  arising 
from  industrial  and  economic  relationships,  how 
shall  His  mission  of  peace-making  be  explained? 
Does  not  this  section  of  the  New  Covenant  include 
this? 

"  This  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house 
of  Israel  after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord ;  I  will  put  my 
laws  into  their  mind,  and  on  their  hearts  will  I  write 
them:  and  I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to 
me  a  people:  and  they  shall  not  teach  every  man  his 
fellow-citizen,  and  every  man  his  brother,  saying,  Know 
ye  the  Lord:  for  all  shall  know  me,  from  the  least  unto 
the  greatest  of  them." — Heb.  8:  io-ii. 

Here  is  the  substance  of  the  New  Covenant,  which 
the  Mediator  is  to  make  effective.  Every  man  shall 
be  made  to  know  the  Lord.  This  implies  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  Him  in  every  realm  of  life.  The  accom- 
plishing of  this  will  make  Jesus  the  Mediator,  not  of 
a  segment  of  one's  life,  but  of  its  entire  circle. 

However,  the  objection  may  be  raised  that  a  dead 
person  cannot  mediate'  in  the  realm  of  business,  in- 
dustry and  international  relations.  In  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  world's  best  people,  it  is  an  established  fact 
that  Jesus  is  not  dead:  He  is  a  living  personality  and 
the  world's  strongest  force  to-day. 

"  But  His  presence  is  only  spiritual,"   is  another 


\ 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  MASTEE  21 

objection.  In  a  right  world  order,  the  spiritual  will 
predominate,  as  the  mind  controls  the  body.  When 
men  recognize  the  spiritual  as  the  power  that  will  pre- 
vail eternally,  our  wranglings  and  misunderstandings 
over  the  trifling  material  things  of  life  will  sink  into 
nothingness.  Woe  unto  the  people  who  reverse  God's 
order  and  allow  the  material  to  control  the  spiritual. 

"  We  cannot  see  Jesus,"  will  be  another  objection. 
We  do  not  see  the  law  of  gravitation,  but  we  solve 
our  problems  in  physics  by  complying  with  it. 
Things  seen  are  temporal:  unseen  powers  are  eternal. 

"  By  what  practical  method  could  Jesus  be  made  a 
Mediator  in  the  workaday  world  ?  " 

Here  is  His  plan  in  outline.  Volumes  would  be 
needed  to  elaborate  it: 

First  He  reconciles  men  to  God,  teaches  them  a  new 
love,  inspires  them  to  extend  that  love  to  others,  and 
shows  them  that  as  the  Father  makes  His  sun  to  shine 
on  the  just  and  the  unjust,  and  gives  His  rain  to  the 
fields  of  the  righteous  and  the  ungodly,  so  they  should 
strive  for  this  perfection  of  love  that  will  bring  them 
into  right  relationship  to  one  another. 

Then  He  teaches  that  the  words  which  He  spake 
are  the  law  by  which  we  are  to  be  judged  on  the  last 
day,  and  consequently  that  they  should  be  made  the 
code  by  which  we  live.  Giving  renewed  men  the  aid 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  enable  them  to  understand  His 
words  ("  He  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  to 
your  remembrance  all  that  I  said  unto  you." — John 
14:  26)  He  also  makes  them  the  code  of  the  Mediator 
by  which  differences  should  be  adjusted. 


22  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

In  Him  is  found  a  Teacher  whose  utterances  are 
impartial  and  strictly  fair  to  all.  They  constitute  a 
code  which  should  be  presented  to  the  world  as  the 
standard  of  fairness  and  the  basis  of  all  decisions. 
When  accepted,  this  code  would  constitute  the  point  of 
contact  for  all  disputants,  provide  a  common  ground, 
exalt  the  Teacher  as  Mediator,  and  bring  a  happy 
solution  to  all  problems  of  industry,  business  and 
statecraft. 

But  He  must  be  chosen.  Jesus  does  not  force  Him- 
self upon  folks  who  do  not  seek  Him.  Many  choose 
Him  as  Lord  and  Saviour  who  do  not  allow  Him  the 
position  of  Mediator  in  their  affairs  with  men.  They 
bar  Him  from  the  shop,  office  and  counting-room, 
and  consequently,  because  of  their  unbelief,  He  does 
no  mighty  works  in  their  realm  of  economics. 

"  By  what  authority  would  His  decisions  be  en- 
forced ?  "  By  the  authority  of  an  enlightened  con- 
science. Herein  may  be  seen  the  wisdom  of  the 
Mediator  in  providing  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  "  God's 
deputy  in  the  soul,"  to  enlighten  human  conscience 
and  keep  it  tender  toward  God  and  men.  Conscience 
makes  public  opinion  and  establishes  customs.  Men 
in  whom  the  voice  of  conscience  is  weak  respect  pub- 
lic opinion,  and  will  not  antagonize  the  customs  of  a 
community — unless,  indeed,  they  have  reached  the 
point  where  they  are  willing  to  become  criminals  and 
social  outcasts. 

Not  all  that  would  follow  the  acceptance  of  His 
mediatorship  in  the  realm  of  economics  can  be  fore- 
seen, but  some  of  the  results  are  self-evident: 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  MASTER  23 

Making  Him  Mediator  between  men  would  person- 
alize their  relations,  and  make  brotherhood  a  working 
possibility.  Here  may  be  seen  the  control  of  sweet 
reasonableness,  which  the  Mediator  would  exercise 
with  a  brotherhood  of  the  highest  type.  Thoughtful 
folks  are  coming  to  look  upon  justice,  fellowship  and 
cooperation  as  containing  the  only  promise  of  peace. 
Inspiring  men  by  His  Spirit,  and  enlightening  them 
by  His  truth,  such  a  Mediator  would  cause  them  to 
become  "  kindly  affectioned  one  toward  another." 
This  would  end  disputes  by  changing  attitudes.  With 
an  agreement  that  all  things  should  be  done  in  accord- 
ance with  His  teaching,  industry  would  become  a  fel- 
lowship of  effort,  and  a  common  enterprise  in  which 
men  unite  to  serve  the  public.  The  common  good 
would  be  made  the  main  object  of  every  worker  and 
capitalist,  while  wages  and  profits  would  be  but  by- 
products. It  would  mean  new  relations  among  men: 
a  fellowship  in  the  common  tasks. 

Guiding  industry  in  the  spirit  of  His  teaching 
would  obviate  strikes,  lockouts,  etc.,  and  even  render 
unnecessary  arbitration  and  other  methods  of  settling 
differences.  It  would  create  a  personal  relationship, 
founded  on  justice  and  brotherliness,  which  would 
forever  prevent  the  rising  of  strife.  The  world's  un- 
rest, to  a  great  extent,  is  a  protest  against  its  business 
and  industry  being  conducted  for  selfish  purposes  and 
private  gain,  rather  than  for  the  public  service  and  the 
highest  communal  welfare.  To  let  Jesus  control  our 
thought  and  action,  would  exalt  justice  and  fellow- 
ship and  enthrone  Him  as  Mediator.    He  would  ren- 


24  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

der  His  decisions  in  the  secret  recesses  of  men's  souls, 
but  would  render  them  so  effectively  that  they  would 
permeate  the  social,  industrial  and  business  world. 

This  applies,  also,  to  international  relations. 

Peace  is  promised  to  men  in  whom  God  is  well 
pleased  (Luke  2:  14)  and  by  effecting  reconciliation 
between  God  and  men,  Jesus  opens  the  way  for  world 
peace,  as  truly  as  for  business  and  industrial  fellow- 
ship. The  full  cost  of  the  World  War  is  unknown, 
but  as  early  as  1920  the  following  summaries  were 
given:  Number  of  lives  lost,  35,380,000,  European 
nations  losing  nine  per  cent,  of  their  population; 
money  cost,  $194,000,000,000,  perhaps  $10,000,000,- 
000  more  than  the  entire  United  States  would  bring 
if  placed  upon  the  market.  The  per  capita  debt  in  all 
countries  from  which  figures  are  available  equals 
$150  per  person.  In  the  United  States,  the  public 
debt  leaped  from  $11.32  per  capita  January  1,  1917 
to  $240  per  capita  in  1920;  or  a  first  mortgage  of 
fifteen  per  cent,  on  the  entire  property  in  the  United 
States.  The  human  agony  and  suffering  cannot  be 
told,  but  what  distressedly  forceful  arguments  are 
these  figures  for  a  Mediator  who  would  bring  peace 
to  the  earth — arguments  both  humane  and  economic! 

Make  Jesus  Mediator  in  the  sense  which  the  fol- 
lowing chapters  undertake  to  show,  and  it  will  estab- 
lish such  personal  relationships  of  cooperation  and 
respect  that  mediation  will  take  the  place  of  antago- 
nism, confidence  the  place  of  distrust  and  suspicion, 
and  will  usher  in  a  period  of  international  peace  and 
industrial  and  economic  prosperity  such  as  the  world 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  MASTER  25 

has  not  yet  seen.  Surely  this  consideration  should 
lead  to  a  re9tudy  of  the  messages  of  Jesus,  with  the 
mediatorial  idea  in  mind.  Such  a  survey  is  at- 
tempted, in  outline,  in  the  following  pages. 

How  this  would  change  human  beings,  which,  after 
all,  are  the  real  products  of  civilization! 

The  faces  we  see  and  the  folks  that  we  meet 
On  lonely  highways  and  the  thronged  city  street 
Portray  the  wishes,  the  thoughts  and  the  ways, 
That  are  born  by  our  century's  strenuous  days. 

Our  history  we  write  very  much  less  in  books 
Than  in  faces  and  features,  in  forms  and  in  looks. 
Of  industry's  products,  whate'er  they  may  be, 
The  most  telling  fruits  are  the  people  we  see. 

For  the  test  of  a  really  great  civilization 
Isn't  kicking  a  goal,  or  licking  a  nation ; 
But  what  it  has  been,  and  what  it's  to  be, 
Is  writ  in  the  lines  on  the  faces  we  see. 

There  humour  and  tragedy,  pathos  and  gloom, 
Witn  beauty  and  ugliness  flourish  and  bloom. 
The  wise  read  the  lesson  and  put  it  to  use : 
The  faces  we  see  are  the  fruits  we  produce. 

The  maimed  of  the  war  are  sad  to  behold. 
Those  crushed  in  the  struggle  for  power  and  gold, 
With  pitiful  eye  and  pale  visioned  face, 
Are  also  the  fruits  of  our  present-day  pace. 


II 

WHY  THE  QUEST  FOR  A  MEDIATOR 
AND  HIS   CODE? 

"Being  ready  always  to  give  answer  to  every  man 
that  asketh  you  a  reason  concerning  the  hope  that  is  in 
you,  yet  with  meekness  and  fear:  having  a  good  con- 
science."— i  Peter  5: 15-16. 

THE  Bible  has  been  interpreted  geographic- 
ally, grammatically,  theologically,  historic- 
ally and  in  practically  every  other  way  ex- 
cept economically.  Since  economics  is  the  science 
that  covers  the  field  of  human  well-being,  and  is  the 
fundamental  law  of  life,  why  not  interpret  it  from 
that  point  of  view?  Certainly  it  should  be  interpreted 
from  the  point  of  view  from  which  it  was  written. 
It  would  be  very  unfair  to  interpret  an  essay  on 
medicine  by  the  rules  of  astronomy ;  likewise  it  is  easy 
to  miss  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  by  interpreting  a  mes- 
sage that  was  spoken  to  meet  an  economic  and  indi- 
vidual need  in  the  terms  of  theology,  or  the  cold,  un- 
yielding criticism  of  grammatical  rules. 

Economics  is  the  open  sesame  to  the  interpretation 
of  Jesus'  sayings;  for  He  addressed  His  messages  to 
the  common  needs  and  felt  wants  of  His  countrymen. 
To  understand  Him  correctly,  we  need  to  consider 
the   living   and   working   conditions   of   Jesus'   day. 

26 


WHY  THE  QUEST  t  27 

They  form  the  background  of  His  messages.     His 
spiritual  truths  are  drawn  from  them. 

We  have  long  been  satisfied  with  the  spiritual  em- 
phasis which  His  messages  have  received.  Now 
times  have  changed.  We  are  not  only  facing  a  new 
day,  but  are  living  in  a  new  world.  The  transition  of 
thought  has  changed  kingdoms.  The  world  is  rapidly 
passing  from  the  monarchical  to  the  democratic  form 
of  government,  and  the  thought-forms  of  the  ages 
are  changing.  The  trend  is  from  slavery  to  freedom. 
Every  true  victory  brings  larger  liberty  to  mankind. 
This  means  freedom  of  thought,  as  well  as  freedom 
of  the  ballot.  The  social  democracy  is  insisting  that 
it  means  industrial  freedom,  also,  by  giving  to  every 
worker  the  "square  deal"  and  substituting  the 
Golden  Rule  for  the  rule  of  gold.  We  have  passed 
from  a  period  of  fraternal  life,  when  the  employer 
and  employee  worked  side  by  side  and  discussed  their 
problems  together,  to  an  age  of  class  consciousness 
wherein  each  knows  but  little  of  the  other's  wants 
and  ways. 

The  intellectual  history  of  the  period  through 
which  we  have  passed  in  the  last  half-century  shows 
remarkable  changes  of  thought.  The  transition  has 
been  rapid  and  its  effect  upon  economical  theories  far- 
reaching.  There  has  been  an  intellectual  stress  that 
has  caused  many  creeds  to  crumble  and  has  recon- 
structed much  of  our  thinking. 

We  have  passed  through  the  period  when  evolution 
and  the  development  theory  have  put  their  hardest 
stress  and  strain  upon  Christian  faith.     About  the 


28  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

middle  of  the  past  century,  Herbert  Spencer  gave  us 
his  system  of  "  Cosmical  Evolution."  While  men  of 
science  were  meditating  upon  his  philosophy,  and 
theologians  were  inquiring  whether  or  not  evolution 
would  banish  God  from  their  universe  and  crush 
Christian  faith,  another  writer  appeared  with  the 
strongest  single  contribution  that  has  yet  been  made 
to  the  theory  of  development. 

In  1859,  Charles  Darwin's  "  Origin  of  Species  by 
Natural  Selection"  appeared.  This  was  reinforced 
by  his  "  Descent  of  Man,"  in  1871.  So  strong  and 
convincing  were  his  arguments  in  favour  of  biological 
evolution  that  even  his  bitterest  opponents  did  not 
dare  to  ignore  them.  It  was  a  challenge  to  the  old 
theology. 

Darwin's  efforts  to  establish  man's  descent  on  the 
principles  of  evolution  were  hailed  with  enthusiastic 
plaudits  by  the  social  democracy.     Karl  Marx  said: 

"  Nothing  ever  gives  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  have 
my  name  linked  with  Darwin's.  His  wonderful  work 
makes  my  own  absolutely  impregnable.  Darwin  may 
not  know  it,  but  he  belongs  to  the  Social  Revolution." 

The  effect  of  the  principles  of  evolution,  and  espe- 
cially when  coupled  with  the  socialism  of  Marx, 
which  is  rankly  materialistic,  was  to  obscure  the  spiri- 
tual and  put  strong  emphasis  upon  materialism. 

Very  closely  connected  with  these  changes,  there 
came  into  vogue  the  "  Scientific  Method."  Devotees 
of  natural  science  can  gather  data  and  weigh  conclu- 
sions with  an  accuracy  that  is  scarcely  possible  to  the 


WHY  THE  QUEST?  29 

mind  dealing  with  abstract  things.  The  eye  can  be 
seen,  the  hand  felt;  plants  can  be  analyzed  and  ani- 
mals weighed;  but  who  has  seen,  and  what  scales  are 
sensitive  enough  to  weigh,  a  human  soul?  It  became 
easy  to  emphasize  the  physical  beyond  the  spiritual, 
and  even  to  question  the  existence  of  the  eternal 
world — and  who  could  visualize  its  geography,  or 
give  specimens  of  its  flora  and  fauna?  Who  could 
demonstrate  the  unseen  and  eternal  ?  Physical  wants, 
as  always,  were  pressing,  and  why  should  not  the  em- 
phasis be  shifted  from  a  seeming  uncertainty  to  that 
which  was  a  conscious,  and  often  painful,  reality? 
So  reasoned  many  a  bread-winner. 

Scarcely  were  we  getting  our  bearings  from  the 
mazes  of  scientific  investigation,  when  the  "  Histor- 
ical Method  "  was  thrust  upon  us.  Then  we  were 
told  that  the  formation  of  any  theory  must  be  from 
a  study  of  the  history  of  the  objects  under  consid- 
eration. The  materials  and  very  sources  of  history 
were  questioned.  Men  went  back  not  only  to  the 
older  sources  but  through  them.  Gibbon's  "  Decline 
and  Fall  of  Rome "  showed  little  regard  for  time- 
honoured  traditions,  especially  those  clustering  about 
the  Church  of  the  period. 

After  his  philosophical  writings,  David  Hume  gave 
us  his  "  History  of  England,"  which  is  practically 
his  system  of  philosophy  applied  to  history. 

As  early  as  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, the  history  of  art,  of  revelation,  and  of  human- 
ity had  been  wrought  out  by  leading  thinkers,  who 
conceived  them  from  the  newer  point  of  view.    How- 


30  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

ever,  the  force  of  the  Historical  Method  was  not  felt 
in  America  until  a  much  later  date.  Grave  fears 
were  awakened  when  men  began  to  apply  the  His- 
torical Method  to  Bible  study,  subjecting  each  book 
to  the  criteria  of  literary  criticism  and  interpreting 
it  in  the  light  of  the  history  of  the  period  in  which 
it  was  written.  Now  we  are  conscious  of  the  value 
of  it.  (Why  not  carry  it  into  the  realm  of  industrial- 
ism and  economics,  and  inquire  what  were  the  social 
and  industrial  conditions  of  the  people  to  whom  Jesus 
spake,  and  why  not  apply  it  to  our  own  system?) 

However,  these  changes  in  thought  and  method  led 
away  from  the  old  moorings  and  invited  to  new 
forms.  There  came  a  groping  for  a  view  of  the 
Scriptures  that  would  adapt  them  to  modern  life,  and 
fit  them  to  the  needs  of  twentieth  century  people. 
The  theology  of  St.  Augustine  is  no  more  satisfy- 
ing to  the  modern  workingman  than  is  a  last  sum- 
mer's hat  to  a  lady  of  fashion.  He  wants  its  spiri- 
tual message — he  needs  that,  too — but  he  feels  in  his 
soul  that  there  is  more  of  a  message  in  the  Gospel  to 
which  he  is  entitled.  He  doesn't  want  a  segment  of 
truth:  he  wants  the  whole  circle.  The  Church  with 
a  fraction  of  a  message  doesn't  appeal  to  him.  Does 
this  indicate  that  men  are  breaking  away  from  the 
faith  in  which  they  have  been  reared  ?  If  so,  to  what 
will  they  anchor?  What  changes  in  their  attitude 
would  be  wrought  if  Jesus  were  given  the  place  of 
Mediator,  and  His  messages  interpreted  according  to 
the  changed  thought- forms  and  present-day  needs? 

As  a  matter  of  self-preservation,  churches  need  to 


WHY  THE  QUEST?  31 

seek  an  economic  interpretation  of  the  code  of  Jesus. 
In  many  older  settlements,  and  down-town  sections 
of  cities,  churches  are  gradually  dying  or  moving  out. 
The  very  plausible  reason  usually  assigned  is  that 
churches  are  attended  and  supported  by  the  great 
Middle  Class  of  people,  and  that  in  these  places  this 
Middle  Class  is  sinking  into  the  Lower  Class,  gradu- 
ating into  the  Upper  Class,  or  seeking  relief  from  the 
struggle  by  moving  away.  Must  this  class,  which  is 
most  vital  to  civilization,  become  extinct  when  there 
is  no  rural  or  suburban  district  into  which  it  can 
move? 

If  churches  were  functioning  properly,  would  they 
not  save  it? 

On  the  spiritual  side  they  should  be  able  to  close 
the  widening  chasm  by  an  exemplification  of  brother- 
hood that  would  make  men  "  one  in  Christ  Jesus," 
regardless  of  class  distinctions. 

On  the  economic  side,  they  should  be  able  to  se- 
cure for  every  one  such  a  square  deal  and  fair  chance 
that  only  the  wilfully  incompetent  could  sink  into 
what  some  are  pleased  to  call  the  Lower  Class.  With 
many  churches,  it  is  becoming  a  case  of  "  do  or  die." 
What  threatens  its  members  threatens  a  church.  If 
the  great  American  Middle  Class  is  destroyed,  how 
shall  any  of  the  churches  live?  If  churches  can  pre- 
vent its  extinction  and  do  not,  are  they  guilty  of  sui- 
cide? While  grateful  for  members  from  the  other 
classes,  few  churches  could  live  without  this  class. 

Meanwhile,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  best 
people  in  the  world,  and  the  people  who  have  the 


32  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

keenest  interest  in  social  and  economic  welfare,  are  to 
be  found  in  the  churches.  Neither  should  it  be  de- 
nied that  the  four  Gospels  contain  a  social  program 
that  is  all-sufficient  for  the  world's  redemption,  and 
that  it  is  the  only  program  that  can  be  effective. 
There  stands  the  Man  of  Galilee,  the  world's  Cham- 
pion in  every  line  of  endeavour,  and  the  only  one  on 
whom  the  people  in  all  walks  of  life,  and  in  all  lands, 
can  unite.  Being  the  final  Judge  of  humanity,  why 
not  allow  Him  to  settle  present  problems?  Why  are 
folks  turning  away  from  Him  and  His  churches? 
Economic  conditions  may  account  for  it.  A  recent 
writer  said: 

"  A  vicious  economic  system  can  in  six  days  destroy 
more  souls  than  one  seventh  day,  or  seventy  times  one 
seventh  day,  can  rebuild." 

In  1920,  the  Interchurch  World  Movement  re- 
ported that  thousands  of  German  church  members 
were  renouncing  their  churches  and  were  assigning 
economic  conditions  as  their  reason  for  so  doing. 

Not  to  discard  the  old,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that 
both  a  new  view-point  and  a  new  emphasis  are  needed. 
Truth  cannot  be  rehabilitated  in  the  grave  clothes  of 
outworn  formulas.  The  new  wine  of  Scriptural 
truth  must  be  put  into  the  new  wineskins  of  social 
and  economic  teaching.  This  truth  needs  to  be  put 
so  plainly  that  the  man  of  the  shop  and  mill,  the  store 
and  office,  as  well  as  the  cloistered  scholar,  can  under- 
stand it.  It  must  have  a  purpose  and  a  mission  that 
will  grip  him.    No  mouldy  odour  must  arise  from  its 


WHY  THE  QUEST?  33 

literature.  Expositions  born  in  the  days  of  Roman 
imperialism,  fostered  by  fire  and  sword  in  the  Dark 
Ages,  made  the  footman  of  kings  and  emperors,  and 
the  spurs  with  which  the  "  Overman  "  has  ridden  the 
masses — no  such  message  of  might  will  minister  to 
the  modern  man.  And  yet,  interpretations  written 
when  men  thought  in  terms  of  monarchy  and  main- 
tained the  divine  right  of  kings  are  still  given.  Com- 
mentaries bristling  with  interpretations  born  of  a  be- 
lief in  the  divine  rights  of  the  privileged  class  grace, 
or  disgrace,  our  shelves.  Behind  cloistered  walls 
men  have  sought  the  meaning  of  Jesus'  words  by  the 
aid  of  grammars  and  lexicons,  forgetting  the  condi- 
tions that  prevailed  in  His  day  and  gave  rise  to  most 
of  His  sayings.  However,  down  in  the  heart  of  the 
modern  man — often  suffering  and  lonesome — there  is 
a  longing  for  a  present-day  message  and  a  friendly 
touch  of  one  whom  he  can  make  the  Mediator  of  his 
spiritual  and  material  interests. 

Why  should  this  marvellously  rich  field  be  neg- 
lected? Why  should  there  not  be  a  message  breath- 
ing the  social  spirit — a  message  born  of  an  economic 
interpretation  of  Jesus'  words?  Why  should  they  not 
be  made  the  law  for  the  settlement  of  human  differ- 
ences? This  phase  of  the  Gospels  is  exceedingly  in- 
teresting, and  as  a  mine  it  is  one  of  richest  ore.  Men 
are  seeking  these  messages,  and  in  many  instances  are 
receiving  them  from  sources  unfriendly  to  the 
churches  and  to  Christianity.  Doubtless  this  has 
much  to  do  with  the  drifting  away  from  religious 
services.     Why  should  not  the  message  come  from 


34  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

friendly  lips?  Many  of  the  wisest  writers  on  social 
and  economic  problems  admit  that  the  truths  of  the 
Gospels  are  needed:  that  men  are  without  chart  and 
compass,  and  largely  without  motive,  when  they  are 
deprived  of  these  truths.  They  have  no  Umpire  to 
decide,  no  Mediator  to  guide  them.  Those  who  are 
skilled  in  Biblical  interpretation  can  bring  these  sav- 
ing truths  to  the  economic  world — bring  them  in  their 
right  relationship  to  other  truths — and  thus  represent 
the  Mediator  by  presenting  a  symmetrical  wholeness 
of  His  teaching,  and  not  misrepresent  Him  by  muti- 
lated and  maimed  sections  of  His  great  doctrines. 

Reform  is  in  the  air,  and  reforms  proceed  upward. 
They  begin  with  the  rank  and  file.  The  favoured 
class  are  too  well  satisfied  to  want  to  disturb  the  ex- 
isting order.  This  has  been  true  throughout  the 
world's  history.  History  is  repeating  itself  now. 
Europe  is  trembling  with  the  birth  throes  of  new  am- 
bitions, while  America  feels  the  quivering  of  a  vol- 
cano on  the  eve  of  eruption.  The  common  people, 
to  whom  the  democracy  of  the  Gospels  appeals,  are 
pressing  new  demands.  Good  men  and  women  in  the 
privileged  class  have  a  friendly,  sympathetic  and 
charitable  feeling  toward  the  rank  and  file,  and  are 
willing  to  help.  And  yet,  many  of  them  dread  any- 
thing that  will  change  the  existing  social  order,  or  in- 
terfere with  the  industrial  system.  The  churches 
have  large  representations  of  these  good  folks  in  their 
folds.  The  result  is  that  many  of  them  are  apathetic. 
A  lecturer  on  economics,  whose  influence  leads  from 
churches  rather  than  to  them,  recently  said: 


WHY  THE  QUEST?  36 

"I  speak  to  four  classes:  Labour  organizations,  pa- 
triotic societies,  women's  organizations  and  church 
bodies.  My  reception  is  in  this  order.  Do  you  wonder 
that  I  am  turning  away  from  the  churches?" 

Merchants  who  have  in  stock  the  goods  that  their 
patrons  are  demanding  are  too  wise  to  stack  them 
away  in  their  storehouses  and  undertake  to  push  upon 
their  customers  goods  which  they  do  not  want.  Quite 
the  contrary:  they  learn  what  is  wanted  and  then 
scour  the  markets  to  get  it.  Christians  need  not  go 
outside  the  Bible  to  meet  the  present-day  demand. 
The  common  people  are  asking  for  the  social  and 
economic  message  of  Jesus.  The  Gospels  contain  it. 
Shall  it  be  shelved,  theological  theories  brought  for- 
ward, and  pious  platitudes  take  the  place  of  the  red- 
blooded  social  message  of  Jesus? 

The  love  of  human  welfare  is  a  strong  motive  in 
this  quest  for  a  Mediator  and  his  code.  Temporal 
wants  are  pressing  upon  us  from  every  angle,  and  will 
be  while  bread  and  butter  are  necessary  to  sustain  our 
physical  being.  It  is  sadly  suggestive  that  the  death 
rate  is  increasing  as  the  cost  of  living  mounts  upward. 
It  is  but  a  truism  to  say  that  without  a  physical  ex- 
istence our  spiritual  life  cannot  be  maintained  on  this 
mundane  sphere.  The  human  body  is  the  medium  of 
communication  between  the  physical  universe  and  the 
immortal  soul.  The  function  of  the  body  is^  recog- 
nized in  the  ethics  of  Jesus  and  provision  for  its  wel- 
fare is  made. 

Another  reason  lies  in  the  extensive  literature  that 
is   coming   into   existence,    bearing   upon   the    social 


36  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

democracy,  modernism  and  the  various  phases  of  in- 
dustrial life.  Shall  it  be  Christian,  or  atheistic,  in 
tone?  Men  have  misunderstood  the  messages  of  the 
churches  and  unwise  leaders  have  fanned  the  flame  of 
prejudice  into  the  fires  of  a  bitter  and  determined 
opposition.  Would  not  a  fair  interpretation  of  Jesus' 
message,  with  special  emphasis  upon  the  economic 
side,  go  far  toward  removing  misapprehension  and 
restoring  harmony? 

But  there  remains  another  and  perhaps  more  im- 
perative reason:  The  Bolshevistic  spirit,  which  is 
"  boring  from  within  "  and  permeating  the  masses,  is 
questioning  the  possibility  of  a  Christian,  industrial, 
or  even  political  democracy.  Shall  we  be  driven  into 
pagan  autocracy,  or  blighting  and  blasting  Bolshe- 
vism? Is  there  a  middle  ground  for  a  republican 
form  of  democracy? 

Business  and  industry  are  looking  to  the  churches 
for  aid  in  solving  the  problem.  An  editorial  excerpt 
on  "  The  Needs  of  the  Hour "  thus  expresses  the 
sentiment  of  "big  business": 

"  The  solving  of  the  labour  situation  is  wholly  a  ques- 
tion of  religion.  We  employers  should  learn  to  give  up 
and  labour  should  wake  up.  However,  neither  of  us 
will  do  it  unless  actuated  by  religious  motives." — 
Roger  W.  Babson,  Business  Analyst. 

Charles  M.  Schwab,  of  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Cor- 
poration, recently  said: 

"lama  firm  believer  in  the  fact  that  in  a  strong  re- 
ligious sentiment  lies  the  firmest  foundation 'for  the  pres- 
ervation of  our  civilization." 


WHY  THE  QUEST!  37 

The  following  sentiment  of  Hamilton  Holt,  editor 
of  The  Independent,  shows  that  a  man  thinking  from 
an  entirely  different  angle  of  life  is  driven  to  the  same 
conclusion: 

"  In  these  days  of  reconstruction  when  the  very  foun- 
dations of  society  are  rocking,  we  need  to  stress  the 
great  moral  principles  of  Christianity,  and  they  alone 
can  save  us." 

Hon.  Robert  Lansing,  former  Secretary  of  State, 
saw  clearly  and  reasoned  accurately  when  he  said: 

"  To  bring  men  back  to  the  spiritual  standard,  to 
make  Christ's  principles  an  impelling  force  in  the  re- 
construction of  society,  and  to  teach  men  to  think  true 
and  to  live  true  is  the  mighty  task  to  which  the  Church 
is  called." 

From  the  point  of  view  of  a  great  educator,  the 
need  of  such  a  Mediator  receives  further  emphasis: 

"  The  spirit  of  Christianity  alone  can  cope  success- 
fully with  those  influences  steadily  growing  in  our  coun- 
try which  tend  to  destroy  our  great  institutions,  both 
religious  and  political." — John  Grier  Hibben,  President 
Princeton  University. 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  is  reported  to  have  said 
that 

"  The  only  safe  rule  of  life  is  to  do  unto  others  as 
you  would  have  them  do  unto  you," 

and  to  have  argued  that  the  Golden  Rule  can  be  used 
in  business ;  that  the  labourers  of  the  country  are  not 


38  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

seeking  exorbitant  wages,  but  a  recognition  of  their 
manhood;  and  that  from  personal  experience  he 
knows  that  most  of  the  questions  arising  between  em- 
ployers and  employees  can  be  settled  without  trouble 
by  a  fair  contact  between  the  parties  and  a  man  to 
man  consideration  of  the  questions  in  dispute,  each 
trying  to  put  himself  in  the  place  of  the  other. 

Would  not  the  Golden  Rule  in  business  and  indus- 
try mean  the  mediatorship  of  Jesus? 

The  following  will  still  further  indicate  the  trend 
toward  the  establishing  of  closer  personal  relation- 
ships and  the  settling  of  disputes  in  the  spirit  of 
Jesus: 

January  1,  1921,  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany announced  an  agreement  between  the  company 
and  the  representatives  of  its  engine  and  train  service 
employees  by  which  the  "  Joint  Reviewing  Committee 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  System "  was  estab- 
lished as  a  medium  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  peace- 
ful adjustment  of  differences  between  the  company 
and  the  employees.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  the  railroad,  the  employees  involved  will  have 
equal  voice  and  vote  with  the  management.  The 
committee  will  constitute  a  court  of  review  involving 
grievances,  rules,  working  conditions  and  discipline. 
In  the  announcement  it  was  said: 

"  The  management  feels  justified  in  expressing  the 
conclusion  that  the  understanding  reached  should  not 
only  make  future  strikes  wholly  unnecessary,  but  should 
obviate  even  the  necessity  of  ever  taking  a  strike 
vote    ...    if  both  sides  will  live  up  to  the  friendly 


WHY  THE  QUEST!  39 

spirit   with   which   the   understanding  has   been   estab- 
lished." 

Is  not  this  but  another  way  of  saying  that  the  un- 
dertaking will  succeed  if  the  spirit  of  Jesus  prevails, 
thus  allowing  Him  to  mediate  the  deliberations? 

That  this  method  of  adjustment  has  met  difficulties 
and  opposition  is  not  surprising:  all  new  and  pro- 
nouncedly aggressive  attempts  do.  Overmuch  rail- 
road legislation  has  hampered  the  efforts  of  employers 
and  employees.  However,  such  attempts  to  establish 
right  personal  relationships  are  much  more  in  keeping 
with  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  Mediator  than  are 
strikes  and  lockouts,  and  should  be  heartily  encour- 
aged. 

Men  pursuing  the  art  of  war  appreciate  the  peace 
principles  of  the  Mediator.  Hon.  Josephus  Daniels, 
when  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  said: 

"  The  only  real  and  permanent  solution  of  the  vexing 
problems  which  seem  more  acute  than  ever  since  the 
end  of  the  World  War  is  the  application  of  the  Golden 
Rule." 

The  voice  of  labour  resounds  in  the  following  reso- 
lutions, unanimously  adopted  by  the  Labour  Council 
of  Wheeling,  West  Virginia: 

"  First,  Be  it  hereby  resolved,  that  we,  the  duly  elected 
delegates  representing  all  of  the  organized  crafts  of  the 
Wheeling  District,  do  hereby  unanimously  declare  it  to 
be  our  belief  that  the  teachings  of  Christ  constitute  a 
platform  upon  which  all  men  can  agree. 

"  Secondly,  That  we  believe  that  they  can  be  applied 
to  modern  industrial  problems. 


40  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

"  Thirdly,  That  we  will  cooperate  with  those  who  will 
join  with  us  in  an  earnest  endeavour  to  apply  His  teach- 
ing in  the  Wheeling  District. 

"  Fourthly,  As  further  evidence  of  our  sincerity  we 
have  duly  appointed  a  committee  of  three  to  confer  and 
decide  what  method  shall  be  pursued." 

These  quotations  constitute  cumulative  proof  of 
the  need  of  some  method  by  which  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  can  be  applied  to  the  problems  of  the  hour.  A 
restudy  of  the  New  Testament  from  the  economic 
point  of  view,  and  the  application  of  His  code  to  these 
problems,  are  the  only  effective  means  of  supplying 
the  necessary  convictions  and  motives.  This  would 
make  Him  the  Mediator. 

While  we  speak  of  the  four  Gospels  as  His  code, 
the  message  may  be  found  throughout  the  Bible,  but 
not  in  such  richness  elsewhere.  The  Gospels  are  com- 
mon ground.  They  are  accepted  by  all  who  in  any- 
wise acknowledge  Jesus.  Why  not  use  them  as  the 
starting  point,  at  least  ?  This  would  provide  a  source 
of  mediation,  make  Jesus  the  Mediator  and  insure 
His  spirit  of  love,  one  to  another,  as  an  executive 
motive  to  enforce  the  decision. 

Could  we  adapt  Zinzendorf's  lines  to  read: 

Jesus,  still  lead  on, 

Till  our  freedom's  won; 
Heavenly  Leader,  still  direct  us, 
Still  suoport,  console,  protect  us, 

Till  we  safely  stand 

In  a  free  industrial  land? 


Ill 

CODE  AND  CREED  A  PRESENT  NEED 

"  Go  ye  also  into  the  vineyard,  and  whatsoever  is  right 
I  will  give  you." — Matthew  20: 4. 

OUR  own  age  is  peculiarly  a  social  period.  In 
the  early  history  of  America,  our  fathers 
were  swinging  away  from  the  aristocracy  of 
the  Old  World,  and  were  shifting  the  emphasis  from 
royalty  and  kingly  lineage  to  the  worth  of  the  indi- 
vidual. They  believed  that  all  men  are  born  with 
certain  inalienable  rights,  and  that  the  hour  had  ar- 
rived when  each  man  should  stand  for  these  rights. 
A  king  might  be  tolerated  if  he  were  good,  and  hon- 
oured if  he  kept  hands  off  the  colonies.  The  Bible 
was  the  text-book  of  their  faith,  and  the  guide  of  their 
political,  as  well  as  their  religious,  life.  The  teaching 
of  the  Mediator  concerning  the  rights  of  the  individ- 
ual were  sought  out  and  placed  in  the  forefront. 
Evangelism  was  a  personal  message  and  salvation 
was  a  personal  deliverance.  The  emphasis  was 
placed  on  personal  responsibility.  A  man  might  be  his 
brother's  keeper,  but  usually  he  thought  much  more 
about  keeping  his  own  soul.  Individualism  perhaps 
attained  its  greatest  height,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
common  people,  during  the  American  colonial  period. 
Every  man  was  then  a  king  and  every  woman  a  queen, 

41 


42  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

simply  waiting  for  the  crown  of  individual  achieve- 
ment. 

The  war  of  the  Revolution  drove  men  into  a  social 
compact  for  military  and  state  purposes.  They  were 
obliged  to  "hang  together,  or  hang  separately." 
Connected  very  vitally  with  the  ideas  woven  into  the 
new  national  fabric  was  the  doctrine  of  the  complete 
separation  of  Church  and  State.  Religion  was  still 
a  matter  for  the  individual  conscience,  and  this  helped 
to  hold  the  emphasis  upon  individualism. 

Democracy  was  not  then  in  danger.  The  Atlantic 
Ocean  lay  between  the  New  and  the  Old  World.  The 
Revolution  severed  all  connection  with  monarchical 
institutions,  and  Americans  rejoiced  in  their  new- 
found liberties,  feeling  secure  in  their  personal  rights 
and  privileges. 

These  conditions  had  a  very  specific  bearing  upon 
their  interpretation  of  Scripture.  Interpretation  was 
from  the  point  of  view  of  individual  worth.  As  in 
monarchical  days  men  thought  in  terms  of  monarchy, 
and  placed  the  emphasis  in  their  interpretations  upon 
that  phase  of  truth,  so  in  the  period  of  intense  indi- 
vidualism the  emphasis  was  placed  upon  that  which 
the  new  democracy  exalted.  Slight  emphasis  was  put 
upon  the  social  phase  of  the  Scriptures.  The  fact 
that  prayer  is  offered  to  "  our  Father,"  not  "  my  Fa- 
ther," and  that  there  is  a  special  promise  to  those  who 
pray  socially — "  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  " — 
were  familiar  truths  of  which  little  use  was  made. 

There  was  no  felt  need  of  interpreting  Jesus'  words 
from  the  industrial  point  of  view,  for  the  aristocracy 


CODE  AND  CREED  A  PRESENT  NEED   43 

of  wealth  had  not  yet  appeared  in  the  New  World. 
There  were  no  labour  problems.  A  few  generations 
ago,  the  employer  and  employee  worked  together,  side 
by  side,  each  handling  the  same  tools  and  rilling  the 
same  number  of  hours.  There  was  friendliness  in 
their  toil,  as  they  discussed  topics  of  common  interest. 
There  was  a  perfect  understanding.  The  employer 
working  at  the  bench  with  his  employee  had  a  true 
fellow-feeling  which  enabled  him  to  put  himself  in 
the  workingman's  place.  Work  then  had  a  human, 
as  well  as  a  financial,  side. 

But  there  came  a  rapid  change  in  industrial  condi- 
tions. The  rich  mineral  resources  of  the  country 
were  discovered  and  a  new  era  of  development  began. 
Coal  fields  of  untold  wealth,  rich  beds  of  iron  ore, 
hidden  stores  of  oil  and  gas — all  these  and  many  other 
rich  treasures  were  found  beneath  the  soil  which  the 
farmer  and  his  "  hired  man  "  had  tilled. 

The  ordinary  tools  fashioned  by  the  blacksmith, 
carpenter  and  machinist,  working  in  the  ordinary 
shop — where  often  the  owner,  a  journeyman  me- 
chanic and  an  apprentice  worked  together — no  longer 
sufficed  to  do  the  mining  and  transporting  of  these 
treasures.  The  mill  and  the  great  factory,  with  their 
costly  machinery,  sprang  up.  Thousands  of  men 
needed  to  be  employed,  and  guided  by  foremen  and 
overseers.  The  employer  rarely  knew  even  the  names 
of  his  employees,  and  with  the  influx  of  foreign  la- 
bour a  number  was  often  substituted  for  the  name. 

Workmen  were  brought  to  the  cities  and  were 
obliged  to  cluster  around  the  machinery  of  the  great 


44  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

mills.  This  congestion  of  population  brought  its  so- 
cial problems,  as  well  as  those  of  an  industrial  nature. 
There  was  no  longer  the  large  country  space,  with 
God's  pure  air  and  sunshine,  for  the  workingman's 
wife  and  children.  Instead  of  the  cozy  home  and  the 
landscape  view,  the  inviting  garden  and  the  cooling 
twilight  zephyr,  there  came  the  tenement  home,  the 
backyard  of  dirt,  degradation  and  tin  cans,  with  a 
stifling  air  and  a  horizon  blackened  by  the  smoke 
belched  forth  from  a  thousand  chimneys.  The  scene 
is  often  made  lurid  by  the  flames  that  suggest  the 
fierceness  of  the  nether  world,  and  with  their  tongues 
of  fire  speak  forth  the  hell  into  which  modern  indus- 
try has  plunged  its  millions.  Then  problems  for  the 
workingman  began  to  multiply — problems  which  the 
individual  could  not  solve  by  himeslf. 

But  this  development  also  made  it  necessary  for 
capital  to  combine.  No  one  man  possessed  sufficient 
wealth  to  develop  the  coal  fields,  tap  the  reservoirs  of 
oil,  construct  pipe-lines  and  market  gas,  equip  great 
factories  and  construct  railroads.  There  was  then 
born  a  consciousness  of  the  need  of  material  solidar- 
ity and  cooperation.  Cooperation  took  the  place  of 
competition  and  corporations  grew  to  such  gigantic 
proportions  that  the  whole  nation  feared  them  and 
anti-trust  laws  were  enacted.  Men  had  stumbled 
onto  one  of  the  laws  of  success,  and  were  intoxicated 
with  the  unheard-of  results.  There  was  no  Mediator 
to  act,  and,  of  course,  some  degree  of  chaos  reigned. 

This  development  brought  its  problems  into  relig- 
ious life,  too.     When  employer  and  employee  worked 


CODE  AND  CREED  A  PRESENT  NEED   45 

side  by  side,  they  attended  church  together.  There 
was  no  thought  of  a  message  for  capital  and  one  for 
labour.  They  were  interested  in  the  same  parts  of 
God's  Word.  When  they  no  longer  fellowshipped 
one  another  in  their  work,  they  grew  apart  in  all 
their  interests  and  each  became  suspicious  of  the 
other.  Too  often,  if  the  employer  went  to  church  the 
employee  stayed  away,  and  vice  versa. 

Herein  is  seen  the  need  of  a  code  that  would  har- 
monize their  differences  and  insure  justice  to  all. 
Should  the  churches  look  for  the  economic  message 
of  the  Mediator,  or  confine  the  application  of  His 
teaching  to  the  spiritual  realm?  Should  they  seek 
the  social,  or  hold  to  the  individual  emphasis?  Em- 
ployer and  employee,  business  men  and  professional 
workers,  all  are  coming  to  inquire  after  a  gospel  that 
will  meet  the  demands  of  a  social  age.  Harry  F. 
Ward  puts  it  thus: 

"  To  put  the  dynamic  of  God's  life  into  the  activities 
of  men,  to  bring  the  social  passion  to  a  consciousness  of 
its  spiritual  nature,  to  tie  the  social  program  to  the  eter- 
nities and  fill  it  with  the  power  of  an  endless  life — this 
is  the  compelling  task  of  the  Church." 

The  individualism  that  prevailed  in  the  foundation 
period  of  American  institutions  may  be  regarded  as  a 
part  of  the  divine  plan  to  insure  stability;  for  society 
is  made  up  of  individuals,  and  what  they  are  it  is. 
The  development  of  the  individual  was  a  first  essen- 
tial to  future  prosperity  and  greatness.  The  impor- 
tance of  the  individual  has  not  lessened,  but  the  need 


46  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

of  social  cooperation  has  increased.  Human  nature 
swings  to  extremes  and  we  are  now  at  the  other  pole. 
Men  are  doing  group  work.  Formerly  one  man 
made  a  shoe;  now  it  is  said  that  in  some  factories 
sixty  people  have  a  part  in  its  production.  Team 
work  is  essential  to  success.  Specialists  are  recog- 
nized, but  each  specialist  has  his  team  in  a  cooperating 
staff.  Great  business  enterprises  are  not  carried  on 
by  individuals,  but  by  groups.  Reforms  cannot  be 
brought  about  by  an  individual,  but  groups  must  be 
interested  and  brought  into  cooperation.  On  every 
hand  the  extreme  of  social  life  is  seen  in  action.  A 
gospel  that  appeals  to  the  modern  man  must  have  a 
social  tone  that  will  link  his  inner  self  to  God  and  to 
the  welfare  of  his  fellows.  This,  then,  will  become  to 
him  a  code  of  action. 

The  social  organism  that  appears  now  is  more  than 
simply  the  coming  together  of  individuals.  It  is 
more  than  the  sum  total  of  their  vices  and  virtues. 
Psychologically  it  is  a  new  organism.  A  chemist 
mixes  together  certain  elements:  they  fuse  and  a  new 
substance  appears.  It  is  so  with  the  social  life  of  the 
present:  it  is  a  new  organism,  not  as  so  many  indi- 
viduals, but  as  the  individuals  plus  the  organism  thus 
formed.  On  the  evil  side,  for  instance,  the  social  evil 
is  the  problem  of  individuals,  plus  the  problem  of 
commercialized  vice.  Destructive  combinations  for 
pleasure  and  gain,  whether  of  capital  or  labour,  have 
their  problems  of  each  individual  concerned,  plus  the 
problems  of  every  device  and  organization  that  min- 
isters thereunto.     The  times  demand  mercy  for  the 


CODE  AND  CREED  A  PRESENT  NEED   47 

individual,  but  militancy  for  the  system.  New  inter- 
pretations of  the  Mediator's  code  may  be  necessary  to 
deal  with  them  in  a  conscientious  manner. 

The  combination  of  forces  for  righteousness  just 
as  truly  produces  new  entities.  A  church  organiza- 
tion, for  instance,  is  the  problem  and  force  of  each  of 
its  individual  members,  plus  the  organism  that  their 
social  activity  creates.  "  One  shall  chase  a  thousand 
and  two  shall  put  (two  thousand?  no)  ten  thousand 
to  flight."  The  organism  formed  by  union  of  forces 
in  social  activity  turns  addition  into  multiplication, 
because  the  Mediator  adds  His  blessing.  It  is  an  in- 
terpretation of  Jesus'  sayings  that  will  produce  such 
activity  that  the  world  is  now  wretched  for  wanting. 
"  The  wicked  flee  when  no  man  pursueth,"  but  they 
make  better  time  when  organized  righteousness  is  at 
their  heels  in  hot  pursuit.  The  currents  of  God's  life 
pour  into  the  associated  and  cooperative  lives  of  men 
much  more  abundantly  than  into  the  channel  of  indi- 
vidual, isolated  effort. 

"A  whole  gospel  for  a  whole  life  "  is  due  warrant 
for  insisting  that  Jesus'  teachings  be  sought  as  the 
code  of  the  Mediator  and  that  they  have  an  economic, 
as  well  as  a  spiritual,  interpretation. 

Another  demand  for  a  Mediator,  a  code  and  a 
creed  grows  out  of  the  democracy  of  our  age.  The 
World  War  was  fought  for  it  and  the  world  hungers 
for  it,  politically  and  industrially.  It  stands  over 
against  special  privileges  and  signifies  equality  of  op- 
portunity industrially,  as  well  as  politically.  It  co- 
ordinates with  the  social  spirit  of  the  age;   for  it 


48  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

means  control  by  the  people  collectively,  not  individu- 
ally, and  yet  secures  for  each  individual  his  rights. 
American  democracy  has  been  deemed  secure,  but  the 
"  Overman "  has  risen.  The  proletariat  feel  that 
freedom  at  the  election  booth  is  largely  theoretical, 
and  that  it  has  little  to  do  with  the  bread  and  butter 
question.  Now  it  is  an  industrial,  rather  than  politi- 
cal, democracy  on  which  the  emphasis  is  being  placed. 
The  worth  of  the  individual  is  everywhere  being 
forced  to  the  front.  Education,  science,  and  even 
grim  want  itself,  all  unite  in  asking  the  question,  "  Is 
a  man  better  than  a  sheep?  "  If  he  possesses  a  per- 
sonality that  differentiates  him  from  "  things,"  can 
that  personality  be  suppressed?  With  the  increase  of 
learning,  and  the  spur  of  suffering,  men  are  claiming 
their  rights  as  human  beings,  and  are  inquiring  by 
what  right  they  can  be  oppressed  and  exploited. 
This  cry  is  not  alone  from  the  "  submerged  tenth." 
It  is  coming  from  our  institutions  of  learning,  from 
the  manhood  of  the  churches,  from  business  men  and 
manufacturers.  Economic  determinism  rules  even  in 
democracies,  because  man  in  a  large  part  of  his  being 
is  an  earth  animal  and  subject  to  earth's  conditions. 

Democracies  demand  intelligence  and  large-hearted 
altruism  for  their  success.  There  must  be  some 
standard  of  intelligence,  some  code  of  laws  to  which 
its  citizens  may  turn.  Industry  needs  to  be  regener- 
ated, as  well  as  democratized.  To  accomplish  its  re- 
generation, there  needs  to  be  men  and  women  per- 
meating it  from  office  to  unskilled  workmen  who  be- 
lieve in  that  goal  and  undertake  to  reach  it.     Only 


CODE  AND  CEEED  A  PKESENT  NEED   49 

regenerated  folks  can  regenerate  industry.  The 
Spirit  of  God  must  have  channels  through  which  to 
work.  To  have  such  a  type  of  workers  it  is  necessary 
to  study  the  code  of  Jesus  as  it  may  apply  to  the  pres- 
ent-day industrial  conditions. 

To  help  in  this,  why  should  churches  not  have  ten- 
tative industrial  creeds?  Creeds  are  not  final,  and 
often  need  revising.  "  A  man's  creed  marks  the 
place  where  he  left  off  thinking."  However,  think- 
ing folks  have  creeds.  One's  creed  is  what  one  be- 
lieves, and  is  a  large  element  in  forming  character: 
for  "  as  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  An 
industrial  creed  could  be  made  to  fit  in  with  an  eccle- 
siastical creed.  Why  not  use  something  like  the  fol- 
lowing, modified  to  suit  the  polity  of  the  church  and 
to  meet  the  conditions  by  which  it  is  surrounded  ? 

A  Tentative  Industrial  Creed 

i.  An  honest  wage  for  every  worker — male  and  fe- 
male. "  The  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire." — Luke 
io :  7. 

2.  A  reasonable  number  of  hours  for  a  day's  work. 
"  Thou  shalt  not  oppress  a  hired  servant." — Deut.  24:14. 

A  suggested  ideal :  Eight  hours  for  work,  eight  hours 
for  sleep,  and  eight  hours  for  reading  and  recreation. 

3.  An  honest  return  for  the  investment  and  risk  of 
capital,  as  seen  in  the  principle  involved  in  Matthew 
21 :  33-41. 

4.  Sanitary  homes  for  workers,  free  from  the  blight 
of  brothel  and  slum.  "  Thou  shalt  make  a  battlement 
for  thy  roof,  that  thou  bring  not  blood  upon  thy  house, 
if  any  man  fall  from  thence." — Deut.  22: 8. 

5.  The  right  of  capital  to  combine,  to  develop  the 


50  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

resources  of  the  country;  and  the  right  of  labour  to  or- 
ganize, so  as  to  protect  the  workers  in  matters  of  wages 
and  working  conditions.  "  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the 
ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn  "  (Deut.  25 : 4)  no  matter 
whether  it  be  the  ox  of  capital  or  the  ox  of  labour. 

6.  The  right  of  every  child  to  wholesome  food, 
healthful  surroundings,  comfortable  clothing,  Christian 
training,  and  at  least  a  full  public  school  education, 
where  high  school  training  cannot  be  given.  "  Thy 
children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord;  and  great  shall  be 
the  peace  of  thy  children." — Isaiah  54: 13. 

7.  A  cooperation  between  capital  and  labour  that 
will  secure  a  square  deal  for  every  man,  woman  and 
child,  whether  rich  or  poor,  and  will  secure  the  rights  of 
the  neutral  public.  "  I  mean  not  that  other  men  be 
eased  and  ye  burdened;  but  by  an  equality,  that  now  at 
this  time  your  abundance  may  be  a  supply  for  their 
want,  and  that  their  abundance  also  may  be  a  supply  for 
your  want :  that  there  be  an  equality." — 2  Cor.  8: 13-14. 

This  church  adopts  the  above  as  its  industrial  creed, 
subject  to  such  revision  as  may  be  needed  from  time  to 
time,  commends  its  careful  study  to  all  the  members,  and 
pledges  itself  to  use  all  its  influence  to  maintain  right  re- 
lations between  all  employers  and  employees,  and  to  se- 
cure justice  to  all  classes. 

What  would  be  the  result  of  the  adoption  and  study 
of  such  a  creed  ?  At  first  sight,  it  would  be  said  that 
the  passages  of  Scripture  cited  were  not  given  origi- 
nally as  a  part  of  a  creed  of  economics.  However,  a 
fair  study  of  the  principles  of  righteous  dealing  which 
they  express  would  show  that  they  (and  many  other 
passages)  are  not  misused  when  placed  in  such  a 
creed  and  interpreted  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus. 

Should  a  church  use  its  influence  to  bring  about  the 


CODE  AND  CREED  A  PRESENT  NEED   51 

practical  working  of  such  a  creed?  Christian  soci- 
ology is  pressing  for  an  answer.  It  is  certainly  a 
mission  of  friendly  churches,  and  should  not  be  left 
to  faultfinding  coteries  of  agitators.  Their  passions 
often  inflame  men  to  deeds  that  are  the  farthest  re- 
moved from  Christianity  and  which  sadly  hinder  the 
bringing  in  of  the  program  of  the  Mediator. 

This  work  will  not  be  well  done  by  an  aesthetic  and 
self-satisfied  church,  where  the  aim  of  Christian  wor- 
ship is  attained  by  a  Sunday  service  enhanced  by  an 
eloquent  sermon  and  high  class  music.  These  good 
things  may  be  made  a  means  toward  attaining  social 
righteousness,  but  where  they  are  an  end  in  them- 
selves, selfishness  rather  than  service  will  prevail. 

To  understand  the  Mediator's  attitude  toward  these 
things,  we  need  to  study  two  conflicting  elements  that 
shaped  the  economic  conditions  of  His  age — namely, 
the  democracy  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  system 
of  human  slavery  which  Rome  fastened  upon  the 
Jews — before  inquiring  into  His  code. 

From  the  high  ideals,  born  in  the  free  and  rarified 
atmosphere  of  the  old  Hebrew  democracy,  when 
prophets  spake  and  poets  sang,  to  the  frantic  and  hope- 
less longings  of  a  people  submerged  in  slavery,  op- 
pressed and  spoiled  by  the  tyranny  of  their  conquerors, 
marks  a  descent  which  must  be  recognized  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  any  message  for  human  betterment. 


IV 

DEMOCRACY  DOMINANT  IN  THE  OLD 
TESTAMENT 

"  The  rich  and  the  poor  meet  together :  Jehovah  is  the 
maker  of  them  all." — Proverbs  22:2. 

WHEN  applied  to  the  history  of  the  Hebrew 
nation,  the  word  "  democracy  "  is  used  to 
indicate  equality  of  privileges  and  rights 
in  government,  communal  and  social  matters,  rather 
than  the  exercise  of  the  franchise.  However,  as  we 
shall  see,  Hebrew  citizens  chose  many  of  their  kings, 
and  their  best  rulers  always  felt  their  responsibility  to 
the  people,  as  well  as  to  Jehovah.  The  ideal  form  of 
Hebrew  government  was  a  theocracy,  with  Jehovah  as 
King ;  yet,  in  the  exercise  of  their  democracy,  the  peo- 
ple asked  for  a  king,  chose  Saul,  then  David,  and 
many  of  their  later  rulers. 
Renan  has  said: 

"  Israel's  career  was  the  most  exalted  democratic 
movement  of  which  humanity  has  preserved  the  remem- 
brance. The  history  of  Israel  is  of  all  histories  that  in 
which  the  popular  spirit  has  most  constantly  ruled." 

These  ideals  may  be  seen  in  the  formation  of  the 
Hebrew  nation.  Practically  all  of  the  early  nations 
were  founded  by  ambitious  men,  who  were  able  to 
surround  themselves  with  a  number  of  soldiers  and 
march  against  a  weaker  people.     Might  Was  believed 

$2 


OLD  TESTAMENT  DEMOCEACY  53 

to  make  right  and  the  subjugated  people  became  the 
servants  of  the  warrior-king  by  whom  they  were  con- 
quered. The  man  who  arose  conspicuously  above  his 
fellows  became  a  conqueror  of  tribes  and  nations,  but 
he  conquered  them  that  he  might  rule  over  them. 
Most  kingdoms  were  founded  for  the  benefit  of  their 
kings.  The  good  of  the  proletariat  was  a  far-off, 
secondary  consideration. 

With  the  Hebrews,  it  was  vastly  different.  Israel 
was  formed  from  a  race  of  slaves,  held  captive  in 
Egypt  until  a  liberator  was  sent  to  guide  them  into  a 
land  long  before  promised  to  their  fathers.  Moses 
had  no  kingly  ambitions.  When  Jehovah  offered  to 
make  a  great  nation  of  his  descendants,  he  declined 
the  honour  and  continued  to  plead  for  Israel.  Moses 
proclaimed  himself  the  servant  of  Jehovah,  insisted 
that  the  people  belonged  to  God,  and  that  they  should 
have  no  king  but  the  Most  High.  Tribal  ties  were 
strong  among  them,  as  they  are  among  all  Semitic 
peoples ;  but  the  worship  of  the  One  God  gave  them  a 
national  solidarity  and  wove  them  into  a  remarkable 
oneness.  It  was  only  after  the  kingdom  had  reached 
the  height  of  its  splendour  under  Solomon,  and  his 
son  had  attempted  to  exercise  the  prerogatives  of  op- 
pression common  in  Asiatic  countries,  that  the  tribes 
severed  their  relationship. 

The  office  of  king  was  not  at  first  hereditary.  In 
choosing  Saul  the  people  did  not  surrender  their 
rights.  They  had  observed  that  the  nations  around 
them,  governed  by  kings,  were  enjoying  a  higher  de- 
gree of  prosperity  than  they,  and  were  more  success- 


54  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

ful  in  warfare.  Being  to  some  extent  "  hero  wor- 
shippers," they  naturally  inferred  that  it  was  because 
of  kingly  leadership.  Samuel  was  great  and  good, 
but  government  in  Israel  was  at  "  loose  ends."  There 
was  no  central  authority  strong  enough  to  consolidate 
the  tribes  for  heroic  action,  and  no  personality  suffi- 
ciently powerful  to  lead  in  national  achievements. 
They  wanted  to  be  like  the  neighbouring  nations,  and 
consequently  asked  for  a  king.  After  obtaining  per- 
mission of  Jehovah,  they  selected  Saul.  It  was  a  case 
of  "  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei." 

The  later  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes  shows  that  the 
people  had  not  surrendered  their  democracy.  They 
were  still  conferring  and  revoking  authority.  They 
possessed  the  power  of  referendum.  When  Reho- 
boam  refused  their  petition,  the  ten  tribes  crowned 
Jeroboam  as  their  king.  Much  as  David  was  loved 
by  the  Northern  tribes,  they  had  no  scruples  about 
breaking  away  from  his  house  when  their  liberty  and 
prosperity  were  threatened.  They  were  keenly  alive 
to  the  economic  situation,  too.  Their  pocket  nerve 
was  touched.  Solomon  had  bled  them  white  with 
taxes  to  maintain  the  splendour  of  his  kingdom. 
They  now  demanded  redress  and  when  it  was  denied 
them,  they  asserted  their  democracy  by  renouncing  al- 
legiance to  David  and  his  descendants.  In  the  exer- 
cise of  their  democracy,  they  established  the  Northern 
kingdom.  "  The  multitude  "  was  always  a  power  in 
the  Hebrew  nations,  and  was  feared  even  to  the  day 
of  Jesus. 

The    democracy    of    the    Old    Testament    may    be 


OLD  TESTAMENT  DEMOCEACY  65 

further  seen  in  the  provisions  which  Jehovah  made 
for  the  welfare  of  the  people.  In  the  opening  chap- 
ters of  Genesis,  the  story  of  creation  teaches  that  God 
created  of  one  blood  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  By 
virtue  of  creation,  all  stood  upon  a  common  footing. 
There  is  no  trace  of  a  privileged  class,  or  of  a  class  of 
underlings.  The  most  democratic  of  all  records  is 
the  record  of  creation. 

There  was  also  a  common  equality  before  the  law. 
This  is  seen  throughout  the  Pentateuch.  Provisions 
were  made  for  "  the  stranger  that  is  within  thy 
gates,"  but  as  far  as  the  people  of  Israel  were  con- 
cerned, there  was  no  "  class  legislation."  Provision 
was  made  for  those  who  had  charge  of  the  temple 
service,  but  they  were  accorded  no  privileges  beyond 
that  of  their  office.  Jehovah  is  portrayed  as  the 
workingman's  friend.  He  is  on  the  side  of  the  poor, 
as  against  the  oppressor.  The  words  commonly  used 
to  designate  workers  are  suggestive.  The  Hebrew 
word  for  "poor"  means  "gentle,"  "humble," 
"pious."  The  word  for  "rich"  has  the  opposite 
meaning.  Was  this  due  to  the  fact  that  the  gentle 
rarely  attained  great  riches,  while  the  forceful  and 
unscrupulous  swept  to  themselves  the  best  the  land 
afforded  ? 

"  Thou  shalt  not  oppress  a  hired  servant  that  is  poor 
and  needy,  whether  he  be  of  thy  brethren,  or  of  thy  so- 
journers that  are  in  thy  land  within  thy  gates :  in  his  day 
shalt  thou  give  him  his  hire,  neither  shall  the  sun  go  down 
upon  it:  lest  he  cry  against  thee  unto  Jehovah,  and  it  be 
sin  in  thee." — Deuteronomy  24: 14-15. 


56  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

The  prophets  also  emphasized  the  doctrine  of  equal 
rights.  They  thundered  their  anathemas  against  op- 
pressors. Nearly  all  of  them  were  called  from  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  people.  Not  many  of  the  mighty 
ones  were  chosen  to  this  high  and  important  office. 
Jeremiah,  Hosea,  Amos,  et.  al.,  were  from  the  pro- 
letariat, and  while  Isaiah  was  a  prince,  he  was  never- 
theless in  closest  sympathy  with  the  humble  of  his 
countrymen. 

To  maintain  democracy,  provision  was  made  in  the 
Hebrew  law  to  prevent  inequalities  of  fortune. 
"  The  land  shall  not  be  sold  forever,  for  the  land  is 
mine,  saith  Jehovah."  A  man  might  mortgage  his 
land,  but  he  could  not  sell  it  out  of  the  family.  Each 
fifty  years  the  "  year  of  jubilee  "  was  observed,  when 
all  the  land  reverted  to  the  original  owners,  or  their 
heirs.  It  could  not  be  sold  forever  from  the  family. 
Could  there  have  been  any  better  plan  for  maintain- 
ing equality  of  wealth-producing  property?  The  land 
question  is  perhaps  the  largest  element  in  the  eco- 
nomic problem.  What  would  be  the  effect  in  Amer- 
ica to-day  if  there  could  be  such  a  distribution  of  land 
that  every  family  would  have  a  fair  share  of  mother 
earth,  secured  by  titles  that  would  cause  it  to  remain 
forever  in  the  family?  Would  it  not  work  a  revolu- 
tion in  economic  conditions?  The  provision  did 
much  to  maintain  a  social  equality,  an  economic  inde- 
pendence, and  a  high  state  of  democracy  among  the 
Hebrews. 

There  were  many  laws  providing  against  destitu- 
tion.    For  instance,   when  the  harvest  was  reaped, 


OLD  TESTAMENT  DEMOCEACY  57 

vintage  had  to  be  left  for  the  poor.  The  fields  were 
not  to  be  gleaned  too  closely. 

Then,  each  day  the  hireling  must  receive  his  wages. 
Every  work  day  was  pay-day.  The  wages  were  not 
to  be  kept  over  night. 

The  moral  code  did  not  allow  oppression.  For  in- 
stance, when  Nehemiah  found  that  certain  nobles  had 
taken  advantage  of  the  poverty  of  the  people,  and 
were  exacting  usury  from  them,  he  brought  them  to 
terms  by  setting  a  "  great  assembly  against  them  " — 
the  multitude  whom  they  feared — and  they  at  once 
relinquished  their  unjust  gains. 

Hebrew  worship  tended  to  perpetuate  democracy. 
Priests  were  but  the  servants  of  the  people,  to  officiate 
for  them.  They  were  not  a  privileged  class,  although 
they  sometimes  usurped  authority,  as  also  did  the 
kings.  The  spirit  of  their  worship  fostered  the  per- 
petuation of  their  democracy. 

Each  individual  stood  for  himself  before  Jehovah, 
must  appear  at  the  place  of  worship  and  pay  a  poll 
tax,  which  was  a  certificate  of  equality. 

The  Psalms  describe  Jehovah  as  being  on  the  side 
of  the  oppressed.  David,  the  author  of  many  of  them, 
did  not  always  wield  his  scepter  from  a  throne.  He 
belonged  to  the  common  people  and  was  once  a  leader 
of  the  discontented  and  oppressed.  At  the  cave  of 
Adullam,  "  every  one  that  was  in  distress,  and  every 
one  that  was  in  debt  and  every  one  that  was  discon- 
tented, gathered  themselves  unto  him;  and  he  became 
a  captain  over  them;  and  there  were  with  him  about 
four  hundred  men  " — a  veritable  army  of  the  unem- 


58  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

ployed.  This  formed  the  nucleus  of  his  army  that 
later  won  splendid  victories  and  finally  placed  him 
upon  the  throne  of  Judah. 

The  Psalms  have  been  called  "  the  Hymn-Book  of 
Democracy."  In  them  the  lowly  are  God's  poor  and 
are  the  special  objects  of  His  care: 

"  The  wicked  in  his  pride  doth  persecute  the  poor:  let 
them  be  taken  in  the  devices  that  they  have  imagined. 
For  the  wicked  boasteth  of  his  heart's  desire  and  bless- 
eth  the  covetous,  whom  the  Lord  abhorreth." 

"  Lord,  who  is  like  unto  thee,  which  delivereth  the 
poor  from  him  that  is  too  strong  for  him,  yea,  the  poor 
and  the  needy  from  him  that  spoileth  him." 

The  law  and  the  prophets,  as  well  as  the  devotional 
literature  of  the  Old  Testament,  sparkle  with  the  pos- 
sibilities which  Jehovah  put  before  every  one.  Prac- 
tically all  of  their  great  men  sprang  from  the  common 
people. 

The  struggle  against  Baal  worship  was  a  struggle 
against  aristocracy  and  for  democracy.  The  Amor- 
ites,  who  for  a  long  period  in  the  early  history  of  the 
nation  dominated  the  town  and  city  life,  worshipped 
Baal.  They  were  the  representatives  of  aristocracy, 
privilege  and  graft.  In  periods  of  decline  the  wor- 
ship of  Baal  predominated  and  these  gained  the  as- 
cendancy over  the  democracy  of  the  Hebrews,  but 
they  always  met  with  the  anathemas  of  the  prophets. 

Man  stealing  was  not  allowed.  There  was  no 
"  Fugitive  Slave  Law."  The  underground  deliverer 
in  American  slave  days  drew  comfort  from  this: 


OLD  TESTAMENT  DEMOCRACY  59 

"Thou  shalt  not  deliver  unto  his  master  the  servant 
that  is  escaped  from  his  master  unto  thee.  He  shall 
dwell  with  thee,  even  among  you,  in  the  places  which  he 
shall  choose  in  one  of  thy  gates,  where  it  liketh  him  best : 
thou  shalt  not  oppress  him." 

Democracy  became  so  ingrained  into  the  nature  of 
this  people  that  it  was  valued  as  their  choicest  treas- 
ure. Even  their  Babylonian  captivity  could  not  kill 
their  Bedouin  love  of  liberty.  God  was  their  partner, 
and  Israel  believed  that  He  could  not  be  suitably  wor- 
shipped by  a  nation  of  slaves.  We  hear  the  prophet 
crying: 

"They  that  carried  us  away  required  of  us  a  song; 
and  they  that  wasted  us  required  of  us  mirth." 

But  they  could  not  sing  the  Lord's  songs  in  a 
strange  land,  and  instead  thereof,  the  captives  put 
forth  this  defiant  challenge: 

"  O  daughter  of  Babylon,  happy  shall  he  be  that  re- 
wardeth  thee  as  thou  hast  served  us,  and  dash  thy  little 
ones  against  a  stone." 

If  this  seems  cruel  and  vindictive,  let  us  remember 
that  it  was  in  answer  to  the  treatment  which  they 
had  received  from  Ashurbanipal,  the  Assyrian  king, 
who  thus  describes  the  taking  of  some  of  their  cities: 

"  I  took  away  their  children  like  troups  of  lambs." 
Again :  "  I  buried  some  alive,  and  others  were  crucified 
and  impaled.  I  caused  some  to  be  flayed  before  my 
own  eyes,  and  I  covered  the  walls  with  their  skins." 


60  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

Of  another  victory,  he  says: 

"  I  carried  off  the  prisoners,  the  booty,  the  oxen,  the 
sheep.  I  burned  great  quantities  of  spoil.  With  my 
own  hands  I  captured  many  prisoners  alive.  I  cut  off 
the  hands  and  feet  of  some,  the  nose  and  ears  of  others, 
and  tore  out  their  eyes." 

After  making  due  allowance  for  the  exaggeration 
of  oriental  kings  when  boasting  of  their  military 
achievements,  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  utmost 
cruelty  was  used  to  drive  captured  nations  into  servile 
subjection,  as  well  as  to  terrify  those  against  whom 
the  armies  marched.  However,  all  this  could  not 
frighten  Israel  into  submission,  nor  terrify  the  in- 
habitants of  Judea.  Like  Napoleon's  Old  Guard, 
they  could  die,  but  they  could  not  surrender — espe- 
cially when  the  surrender  meant  the  giving  up  of  their 
religion  and  their  democracy. 

The  Jews  returned  from  the  Captivity  with  a  splen- 
did spirit  of  equality  and  interest  in  a  common  cause. 
This  is  seen  in  Nehemiah's  dealing  with  the  nobles 
when  they  were  rebuilding  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
Many  of  the  nobles  and  privileged  ones  among  them 
had  taken  advantage  of  the  poverty  of  their  brethren, 
as  noted  above1,  The  governor  called  them  to  ac- 
count, and  compelled  them  to  disgorge  their  unbroth- 
erly  gains. 

During  the  four  centuries  between  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  the  democratic,  liberty-loving  spirit 
was  well  sustained.  At  times  it  flamed  into  a  pas- 
sion, and  led  to  heroic  achievements.     When  Alex- 


OLD  TESTAMENT  DEMOCRACY  61 

ander  overran  the  East,  Palestine,  in  common  with 
other  Asiatic  countries,  passed  under  Greek  rule. 
Through  the  power  of  Alexander  and  the  Ptolemies, 
they  were  under  Hellenistic  sway  from  332  b.  c.  until 
203  b.  c.  Large  numbers  of  Jewish  colonists  had 
gone  to  Egypt,  but  still  retained  strong  attachment  to 
the  social  and  religious  system  established  by  Ezra. 
They  became  prosperous  and  cultured,  and  their  in- 
fluence was  felt  by  Jews  who  remained  in  the  home 
land.  They  made  Alexandria  a  great  center  of  He- 
brew thought  and  study.  They  maintained  inter- 
course with  Jerusalem,  and  thus  strengthened  Juda- 
ism both  at  the  capital  of  their  native  country  and  in 
the  cultured  circles  of  their  adopted  home.  They  se- 
cured the  translations  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into 
the  Alexandrian  Greek — a  version  known  as  the  Sep- 
tuagint — for  the  use  of  Hellenistic  Jews. 

In  203  B.  C,  the  Egyptian  control  gave  way  to  that 
of  Syria,  under  Antiochus  III  and  IV.  In  168  b.  c, 
Epiphanes  undertook  to  force  the  Greek  worship 
upon  the  Jews.  They  regarded  that  as  a  profana- 
tion of  their  temple.  Although  few  in  number,  and 
without  adequate  war  equipment,  their  democratic 
and  religious  spirit  arose,  and  there  followed  a  war 
that  is  an  eloquent  tribute  to  their  love  of  religion, 
their  country  and  their  democracy.  The  Maccabees, 
father  and  sons,  became  their  leaders.  Three  years 
later,  they  succeeded  in  reopening  the  temple  and  at- 
taining religious  freedom,  but  it  was  not  until  142 
B.  c.  that  their  political  freedom  was  secured.  Simon 
was  commander  in  chief  of  their  armies  at  this  time. 


62  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

Such  confidence  did  the  people  have  in  him,  and  so 
grateful  were  they  for  their  deliverance,  that  in  the 
exercise  of  their  democracy  they  made  him  civil  gov- 
ernor, military  chief  and  high  priest,  "  forever,  until 
there  should  arise  a  faithful  prophet."  The  result 
was  that  he  became  hereditary  ruler;  and  the  democ- 
racy of  the  people  was  measurably  surrendered  to  a 
house  which  furnished  some  of  the  worst  reprobates 
in  the  annals  of  Hebrew  history. 

In  63  b.  c,  when  the  Roman  armies  came  to  Jeru- 
salem, those  in  authority  seem  to  have  been  ready  to 
accept  anything  that  promised  deliverance  from  inter- 
nal strife,  and  especially  if  it  seemed  to  favour  the 
ruling  party.  Of  this  period,  Dr.  Frank  K.  Sanders, 
in  his  "  Outlines  of  Biblical  History  and  Literature," 
says: 

"  Note  the  impossibility  of  long  continued  peace,  con- 
sidering such  widely  separated  factors  in  the  nation  as 
Pharisees,  decrying  any  human  means  of  establishing 
Israel's  independence  and  supremacy;  Sadducees,  ready 
for  any  arrangement  that  would  leave  them  undis- 
turbed; procurators,  who  despised  the  people  they  were 
set  to  rule;  zealots,  continually  demanding  a  struggle^ 
and  the  people  who  hardly  knew  their  real  minds ;  also, 
the  remarkable  endurance  of  their  wrongs  by  the  peo- 
ple; the  series  of  unfit  procurators,  and  the  bitterness  of 
the  struggle  at  the  capital." 

We  have  seen  that  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament law  and  worship  was  a  convincing  protest 
against  inequality,  and  that  when  it  was  allowed  free 
scope  it  developed  a  brave,  heroic  democracy  that 


OLD  TESTAMENT  DEMOCRACY  63 

could  neither  be  frightened  nor  cajoled  into  political 
serfdom  or  human  slavery.  The  Bible  has  always 
been  the  best  text-book  on  freedom. 

However,  the  sad  ending  of  the  nation  shows  a 
more  insidious  bondage  forged  upon  the  people  by 
their  leaders,  backed  by  the  Roman  armies. 

The  trend  of  the  Old  Testament  shows  the  sacred- 
ness  of  human  beings  and  provides  for  their  wel- 
fare. There  was  a  sad  falling  away  from  this  ideal 
between  the  period  of  the  Maccabees  and  the  coming 
of  Christ.  Jesus  embodied  the  ideal,  but  He  found 
its  opposite  in  practice.  He  undertook  to  restore  it, 
and  to  show  "  How  much  then  is  a  man  better  than  a 
sheep."  To  lift  human  beings  from  the  realm  of 
"  things  "  and  make  them  children  of  the  Most  High 
was  the  mission  of  the  Mediator. 

But  alas : 

"  All  evil  thoughts  and  deeds ;  i 
Anger,  and  lust,  and  pride; 
The  foulest,  rankest  weeds, 
That  choke  life's  groaning  tide — 
These  are  the  woes  of  slaves." 

— Longfellow. 


V 

SLAVERY  IMPOSED   BY   ROME 

"  Now  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  there  went  out  a 
decree  from  Caesar  Augustus,  that  all  the  world  should 
be  taxed." — Luke  2: 1. 

LUKE'S  account  of  Rome's  enrolling  all  the 
world  for  taxation  shows  an  appalling  de- 
gree of  "  nerve "  on  the  part  of  Caesar. 
However,  it  furnishes  the  key  whereby  we  may  un- 
lock the  whole  situation. 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  this  taxing  on  Rome's 
part  was  simply  booty.  It  was  a  hold-up  game,  not 
for  the  good  of  the  people,  nor  with  their  consent:  it 
was  simply  a  case  of  might  making  right.  It  also 
shows  the  decayed  condition  of  public  spirit,  when  a 
group  of  extortioners  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  could 
hold  up  the  whole  world.  The  free  spirit  of  Amer- 
ica, which  made  the  "  Boston  Tea  Party  "  a  possibil- 
ity, and  declared  that  "  taxation  without  representa- 
tion is  tyranny,"  was  not  yet  born.  It  was  not  a  pos- 
session of  the  masses  of  the  people,  although 
through  Palestine  there  was  raging  discontent.  It 
was  in  the  midst  of  this  brigandage  rule  that  Jesus 
was  born,  and  it  might  be  expected  that  He  would  be- 
come an  economic,  as  well  as  spiritual,  Mediator.  In 
fact,  Christianity  had  its  birth  during  a  social  up- 
heaval. 

64 


SLAVERY  IMPOSED  BY  ROME  65 

The  Roman  Empire  has  been  fitly  called  "  a  world- 
wide federation  of  aristocracies,  for  the  perpetuation 
of  human  servitude."  Militarism,  art,  jurisprudence, 
idealism — all  became  secondary.  "  She  chose  the  pot 
of  gold  and  left  the  rainbow  to  others,"  is  but  another 
way  of  saying  that  she  had  no  ideals,  no  high  aims, 
nothing  but  a  sordid  love  of  gain.  War  was  waged 
for  revenue.  This  was  understood  by  other  nations. 
For  instance,  Crassus,  the  richest  man  in  Rome,  made 
a  military  expedition  against  the  Parthians,  to  further 
enrich  himself.  He  was  unsuccessful,  was  captured 
and  killed  by  melted  gold  being  poured  down  his 
throat.  The  Parthians  believed  that  he  should  perish 
by  that  which  he  was  seeking.  It  is  said  that  the 
Roman  Senate  objected  to  Caesar's  conducting  a  cam- 
paign against  England,  on  the  grounds  that  the  Bri- 
tains  had  no  treasure  to  be  acquired  that  would  com- 
pensate for  the  outlay  of  the  campaign. 

The  object  being  revenue,  the  Romans  allied  them- 
selves with  the  revenue  raisers  of  other  nations.  They 
thus  formed  an  alliance  that  made  world-wide  domin- 
ion possible,  but  it  crucified  patriotism  and  crushed 
the  finer  sentiments.  Merivale  calls  Rome's  success 
in  empire  building  "  one  of  the  lost  arts."  While 
Alexander  had  failed,  and  the  kings  of  the  East  had 
failed,  Rome  succeeded  by  working  a  "  system " 
which  provided  a  cash  basis.  Any  system  that  suc- 
ceeds in  raising  revenue  must  necessarily  become  pop- 
ular. Rome  worked  for  "  revenue  only."  To  control 
nations  might  appeal  to  sentiment,  but  why  control 
nations  if  this  control  did  not  enrich  the  city  and  peo- 


66  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

pie  of  Rome?  Gold  rather  than  glory  appealed  to 
Rome.  The  splendour  of  her  palaces,  and  the  mag- 
nificent fortunes  of  her  magnates,  represented  the 
riches  of  the  countries  which  her  armies  overran. 
Sometimes  the  wealth  was  received  in  taxes,  some- 
times as  spoil,  but  it  was  always  received. 

Slavery  formed  the  basis  of  Rome's  industrial  sys- 
tem. It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  institutions 
with  which  one  meets  in  the  study  of  the  "  Private 
Life  of  the  Romans."  Slaves  toiled  and  the  masters 
gave  themselves  up  to  pleasures.  With  the  games  in 
the  arena,  there  were  a  hundred  fete  days  in  the 
year. 

Julius  turned  into  the  arena  four  hundred  lions  at 
once,  to  slaughter  each  other  for  Rome's  pleasure. 
However,  Octavius  quite  surpassed  him,  if  his  self- 
prepared  epitaph  is  to  be  credited.  He  there  says 
that  at  his  own  expense  he  gave  exhibitions  in  which 
three  thousand  five  hundred  gladiators  met  their 
death.  These  were  practically  all  slaves.  Slave  life 
was  sacrificed  to  pleasure  and  passion,  as  well  as  in 
industrial  pursuits.  To  vary  the  amusements,  women 
and  dwarfs  often  fought  each  other.  Gladiators  in 
death  combats  often  entertained  guests  at  the  ban- 
quets of  the  rich.  Thus  the  blood  of  slaves  imported 
from  conquered  provinces  often  accompanied  the 
wine  of  the  feasts.  There  were  also  voluptuous 
dances,  and  guests  were  offered,  as  a  part  of  the  re- 
past, the  kisses  of  slave  girls.  Many  of  these  girls 
came  from  Syrian  homes,  and  possibly  a  goodly  num- 
ber from  Hebrew  households.     Slave  merchants  fol- 


SLAVERY  IMPOSED  BY  EOME  67 

lowed  the  army,  and  the  prisoners,  and  very  often  the 
entire  inhabitants  of  surrendered  cities,  were  sold  into 
slavery. 

Gibbon  estimates  that  sixty  millions,  or  about  half 
of  the  known  world's  population  at  that  time,  were  in 
slavery.  Slaves  were  becoming  more  numerous, 
more  restive  and  more  dangerous  every  year. 

A  few  years  before  this,  Spartacus  with  some  com- 
panions escaped  from  the  slave  stable  of  Capua, 
where  they  were  being  fattened  for  the  amphitheatre, 
and  entrenched  themselves  in  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano.  From  there,  Spartacus  proclaimed  univer- 
sal freedom.  Slaves  flocked  to  his  standard  and  he  be- 
came the  leader  of  a  revolution.  For  two  years  they 
defied  the  Roman  armies,  but  were  finally  overcome. 
As  a  warning  against  further  revolt,  six  thousand 
slaves  were  spiked  to  as  many  crosses,  and  left  to  die 
along  the  roadsides.  The  spectacle  was  intended  as  a 
ghastly  warning  to  all  slaves  who  should  be  guilty  of 
insubordination.  At  most  of  the  slave  stables,  crosses 
were  kept  as  a  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  tool- 
houses.  As  an  object  of  terror,  and  instrument  of 
torture,  they  were  indispensable. 

Owners  of  slaves  trembled  with  fear,  lest  they 
should  be  killed  and  the  slaves  escape.  At  one  time 
it  was  proposed  to  dress  slaves  in  uniform,  that  they 
might  be  distinguished  from  free  citizens;  but  when 
it  was  pointed  out  that  this  would  show  them  their 
numbers  and  strength,  the  proposition  was  at  once 
abandoned. 

Tacitus  says  that  the  fear  of  a  slave  insurrection 


68  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

was  chronic.  Indeed  there  was  fear  of  a  rising  storm 
throughout  the  world.  Nothing  less  than  the  Roman 
armies  could  put  down  such  an  uprising.  Many 
places  were  without  such  protection.  This  would 
cause  Rome's  proposition  of  a  league  with  capitalistic 
classes  throughout  the  world  to  be  hailed  with  delight. 
It  has  been  called  an  "  Intimidation  Trust."  Rome 
was  the  promoter  and  received  the  promoter's  profit. 
She  massed  her  armies,  built  her  roads,  and  was  able 
to  respond  to  the  call  of  any  local  prince,  who  might 
need  help  to  quell  an  uprising  among  his  people, 
within  forty-eight  hours.  With  slavery  as  the  basis 
of  society,  with  masters  outnumbered  by  their  slaves 
and  in  deadly  fear  of  them,  the  service  of  the  Roman 
armies  to  quell  insurrectos  would  be  an  effective  in- 
ducement for  a  world  federation  of  the  slave-owning 
classes.  The  dominant  class  in  each  country  was  re- 
tained in  authority,  with  spoliation  privileges  in- 
creased and  supported  by  mighty  armies,  and  the  po- 
lice needs  of  the  country  cared  for  by  Rome. 

The  result  was  that  Rome  did  not  need  to  conquer 
nations:  she  could  annex  them  by  agreement  with  the 
capitalistic  group  in  each  country.  It  was  a  brigand- 
age league,  pure  and  simple,  but  it  held  the  nations 
with  marvellous  tenacity.  Slavery  was  not  attractive 
to  the  Hebrews,  but  there  were  other  things  growing 
out  of  the  league  which  were  attractive  to  a  large  ele- 
ment. The  spirit  of  selfish  cupidity  was  found  in  her 
ruling  classes,  and  Rome  had  many  things  that  ap- 
pealed to  the  avaricious. 

It  has  been  said  that  "  it  took  Rome  five  hundred 


SLAVERY  IMPOSED  BY  ROME  69 

years  to  conquer  Italy,  but  only  fifty-three  years  to 
subjugate  the  rest  of  the  world  by  her  system  which 
she  worked."  Wealth  was  pouring  into  Rome  from 
her  annexed  provinces.  Palaces,  castles,  villas,  et  cet- 
era, were  being  built  out  of  the  treasures  pillaged 
from  conquered  countries.  Bankrupts  in  Rome  were 
appointed  to  government  positions  in  the  East,  and  in 
from  one  to  three  years  they  would  return  with  mil- 
lions for  fresh  revelry.  Sovereigns  of  allied  coun- 
tries sent  their  sons  to  Rome  to  be  educated  amid 
these  surroundings,  that  they  might  be  trained  in  the 
arts  of  exploitation,  and  be  able  to  perpetuate  the  sys- 
tem. What  this  system  was  will  be  seen  by  a  few 
quotations  from  recognized  historians,  descended 
from  the  Romans,  and  friendly  to  their  ancestry. 
Machiavelli,  an  Italian,  says: 

"  Conquered  states  that  have  been  accustomed  to  lib- 
erty and  the  government  of  their  own  laws  can  be  held 
by  the  conqueror  in  three  different  ways:  The  first  is  to 
ruin  them;  the  second,  for  the  conquerors  to  go  and  re- 
side with  them  in  person ;  and  the  third  is  to  allow  them 
to  live  under  their  own  laws,  subject  to  a  regular  tribute, 
and  to  create  in  them  a  government  of  a  few,  who  will 
keep  the  government  friendly  to  the  conqueror.  Such 
a  government  having  been  established  by  the  prince, 
knows  that  it  cannot  maintain  itself  without  the  support 
of  his  power  and  friendship,  and  it  becomes  its  interest 
therefore  to  sustain  him." 

Here  is  the  philosophy  of  annexation,  and  there  is 
seen  the  wisdom  of  selecting  a  few  in  the  annexed  do- 
minion, who  will  keep  the  country  true  to  the  prince, 


70  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

get  his  tribute  money  and  by  no  means  forget  their 
own. 

The  testimony  of  another  Italian  writer  is  still 
more  emphatic.     Ferrero  says: 

"  Everywhere,  even  in  the  most  distant  regions,  pow- 
erful minorities  were  formed  that  worked  for  Rome, 
and  against  the  old  separating,  anti-uniting  forces, 
against  old  traditions  and  local  patriotism  alike.  The 
wealthy  classes  everywhere  became  in  a  special  way 
wholly  favourable  to  Rome." 

As  to  the  order  of  procedure,  he  says: 

"  The  economic  unification  was  first  and  was  entire; 
then  came  the  political  unity,  which  was  less  complete 
than  the  unifying  of  material  interests." 

Another  writer  says: 

"  The  solidarity  of  capital  was  Rome's  contribution  to 
the  world's  thought." 

This  being  true,  all  classes  of  capitalists  were 
taught  to  stand  pat  as  a  trust,  and  not  pillage  each 
other.  They  might  unite  in  other  forms  of  exploita- 
tion, but  they  must  respect  the  fraternity.  The  prov- 
erb of  "  honour  among  thieves "  perhaps  worked 
here,  if  it  was  ever  operative  anywhere. 

Notwithstanding  the  democracy  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, Palestine  possessed  a  vulnerable  point.  It  was 
the  desire  to  get.  This  led  to  the  league  with  the  ex- 
ploiters of  the  common  people,  cemented  the  friend- 
ship of  the  one  class  to  Rome,  and  aroused  the  ire  of 
the  other  against  her.     This  condition  prevailed  in 


SLAVERY  IMPOSED  BY  ROME  71 

Jesus'  day.  Great  changes  had  taken  place  since  Ne- 
hemiah's  time,  when  the  spirit  of  a  religious  democ- 
racy held  high  sway.  Following  the  victories  of  the 
Maccabees,  the  people  enjoyed  a  period  of  independ- 
ence without,  but  they  were  torn  by  internal  strife. 
Many  of  them  came  into  contact  with  the  heathen 
round  about  them,  and  caught  the  class  spirit.  The 
office  of  high  priest  became  a  secular,  political  posi- 
tion. There  were  fierce  uprisings  and  terrible  rival- 
ries in  the  struggle  for  the  office.  Bitter  rivalries  ex- 
isted between  the  Sadducees  and  the  Pharisees,  which 
on  one  occasion  led  to  civil  war. 

There  was  a  growing  struggle  for  mastery:  for  a 
rulership  that  would  bring  with  it  the  predatory  privi- 
leges of  the  upper  class.  This  was  centered  in  Jeru- 
salem, where  there  was  least  of  the  democratic  spirit 
of  brotherly  love,  as  taught  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Democracy  prevailed  more  largely  in  the  rural  sec- 
tions, notably  in  Galilee. 

As  the  armies  of  Rome  approached,  war  was  rag- 
ing between  rival  factions  of  the  Jews.  Aristobulus 
was  leading  one  faction  and  Hyrcanus  another.  It 
was  chiefly  the  old  controversy  between  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees,  but  it  was  now  intensified  by  a  civil  war 
between  rival  kings,  each  of  which  was  claiming  the 
throne  and  the  high  priesthood.  Aretas,  king  of 
Arabia,  espoused  the  cause  of  Hyrcanus,  but  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Roman  armies,  under  Pompey,  cut  short 
the  petty  warfare.  Each  side  endeavoured  to  enlist 
the  Roman  power.  Each  was  willing  to  open  the 
gates  of  the  city  to  the  invader,  in  case  they  could 


72  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

have  the  power  of  the  Roman  armies  to  back  their 
pillage  and  support  their  throne.  In  the  year  63  b.  c, 
Pompey  led  his  armies  against  Jerusalem,  and  the 
high  priest  stood  ready  to  open  the  city  gate  to  him. 
Aristobulus  and  his  followers  fled  to  the  temple 
mount,  and  there  defended  themselves  for  some  time ; 
but  it  was  for  personal  safety,  not  for  patriotism. 
Jerusalem  was  the  home  of  Jewish  aristocracy,  and 
there  was  a  welcome  for  the  Roman  system,  which 
formed  "  the  economic  unity  first  and  made  it  entire." 
Like  Ferrero's  saying  was  the  action  of  these  rulers: 
"  The  wealthy  classes  everywhere  became  in  a  special 
way  wholly  favourable  to  Rome."  There  was  that 
"  fellow  feeling  that  makes  one  wondrous  kind  "  be- 
tween them  and  Rome. 

Soon  there  came  the  Herods,  and  the  lesser  oppress- 
ors, until  at  the  advent  of  Jesus  the  common  people 
were  near  the  starvation  point.  The  law  permitted 
parents  to  sell  their  children  to  pay  taxes,  and  that 
Bethlehem  enrollment  may  have  necessitated  the 
sale  of  many  of  them.  Herod's  income  has  been  es- 
timated at  two  million  dollars  a  year,  while  the  wage 
of  a  labourer  was  a  denarius,  or  about  seventeen 
cents,  per  day.  It  is  not  strange  that  Herod  was 
troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem  with  him,  when  they 
heard  that  one  had  been  born  who  was  to  become 
king  of  the  Jews.  It  touched  both  the  pride  and  the 
pocket  nerve.  It  was  not  only  the  two  million  dollar 
position  that  Herod  felt  was  endangered,  but  it  might 
mean  the  overthrow  of  many  privileges  *  that  were 
turning    shekels    into    the    coffers    of    lesser    lights. 


SLAVERY  IMPOSED  BY  EOME  73 

Having  the  conception  of  an  earthly  king,  they  would 
expect  him  to  take  the  throne  of  Judea.  If  he  were 
a  king  from  heaven,  that  would  mean  the  overthrow 
of  the  whole  iniquitous  system  by  which  they  were 
reaping  riches.  With  servile  spirit,  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  were  bowing  before  the  powers  that  were 
fleecing  them. 

It  was  ordained  that  the  Mediator  should  not  be 
brought  up  in  the  evil  surroundings  of  this  system, 
which  prevailed  so  extensively  in  the  capital  city. 
His  home  was  in  Galilee,  where  there  was  much  less 
of  the  servile  spirit.  The  Galileans  proved  to  be  the 
hardest  to  conquer  of  any  of  the  Hebrew  people. 
Josephus,  the  historian,  who  was  once  their  com- 
mander in  war,  bears  strong  testimony  to  their 
bravery. 

In  Jesus'  boyhood,  the  spirit  of  insubordination 
broke  out  in  a  great  Galilean  rebellion,  under  Judas  of 
Galilee.  Varus  was  sent  to  mobilize  two  legions  of 
soldiers  on  this  little  province.  The  rebellion  was 
crushed  in  the  most  brutal  fashion.  Fire  and  sword 
combined  to  spread  devastation.  From  the  heights 
above  Nazareth  Jesus  could — and  possibly  did — look 
down  upon  burning  villages  and  devastated  country. 
Two  thousand  people  were  crucified.  Day  after  day, 
the  boy  Jesus  could  see  by  the  roadside  these  victims 
lifted  about  two  feet  above  the  ground,  on  rude 
crosses,  and  hear  their  groans  as  they  were  writhing 
in  the  agonies  of  death,  from  the  pains  of  the  cross 
and  the  tearing  of  wild  beasts.  It  was  a  part  of  the 
hellish  cruelties  of  the  Romans  to  leave  the  crosses 


74  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOB 

low  enough  that  the  helpless  victims  could  be  de- 
voured alive  by  wild  animals.  These  hungry  brutes 
made  night  hideous  as  they  feasted  upon  the  quiver- 
ing flesh  of  dying  men.  That  some  of  Jesus'  ac- 
quaintances were  among  the  victims  is  not  improb- 
able. 

In  the  bitterness  of  His  tender  soul,  He  must  have 
seen  the  awful  extremes  of  inhumanity  to  which 
Rome  would  go  that  she  might  maintain  the  hierarchy 
of  oppressors  in  Jerusalem,  drain  the  land  by  taxes, 
and  enslave  the  people  in  the  bitterest  hardships  that 
the  world  has  known. 

When  Jesus  began  taking  the  place  of  a  Mediator 
by  denouncing  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  He  knew  the 
power  and  cruelty  of  Rome.  He  knew  that  the  rulers 
of  His  people  were  linked  with  the  oppressors.  He 
knew  that  a  pitiless  and  agonizing  death  awaited 
Him,  if  He  remained  true  to  His  convictions:  but  the 
fires  enkindled  within  His  soul  continued  to  burn, 
even  unto  death.  Would  servility,  or  insurgency, 
mark  His  attitude  toward  such  a  system?  "Having 
loved  his  own,  he  loved  them  unto  the  end." 


VI 

MEDIATORIAL  INSURGENCY 

"And  Jesus  entered  into  the  temple  of  God,  and  cast 
out  all  them  that  sold  and  bought  in  the  temple,  and 
overthrew  the  tables  of  the  money-changers,  and  the 
seats  of  them  that  sold  doves ;  and  he  said  unto  them,  It 
is  written,  My  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer: 
but  ye  make  it  a  den  of  robbers." — Matthew  21: 12-13. 

"  Think  not  that  I  came  to  send  peace  upon  earth :  1 
came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword." — Matthew  10: 34. 

BY  "  insurgent "  we  mean  one  who  departs 
from  established  laws  and  customs:  the  oppo- 
site of  the  stand-patter  and  traditionalist. 
Would  the  Hebrew  nation  submit  to  the  "  combine  " 
of  Rome's  money-trust  with  Jewish  greed,  and  have 
their  philosophy  shaped  by  the  equipment  of  the  Ro- 
man armies  ?    There  was  at  least  one  insurgent. 

Jesus  belonged  to  the  common  people,  and  His 
teaching  shows  that  He  was  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  democratic  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament.  He  had 
grown  to  manhood  in  the  liberty-giving  air  of  Gali- 
lee, and  among  those  who  had  suffered  most  severely 
at  the  hands  of  the  Roman  soldiers,  and  the  exploiter 
class  of  their  own  people. 

Among  these  countrymen,  Jesus  began  His  work. 
They  were  constantly  watching  Him,  hoping  that  it 
had  been  He  who  would  deliver  Israel  from  the  gall- 

75 


76  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

ing  yoke  of  Roman  oppression.  Gladly  would  they 
have  made  Him  king;  but  that  was  not  in  accordance 
with  His  program,  and  He  hid  Himself  from  them 
when  the  movement  was  maturing.  He  did  not  treat 
surface  symptoms:  His  diagnosis  went  deeper;  His 
treatment  was  radical  and  constitutional.  He  knew 
that  spiritual  deliverance  precedes  any  possibility  of 
political,  social  and  industrial  freedom.  On  this  basis 
He  gave  a  program  that  has  stood  the  test  of  two 
thousand  years  and  ought  to  give  Him  the  undisputed 
position  of  the  world's  Mediator. 

Rome  had  brought  her  system  of  servitude,  com- 
pelling the  common  people  to  serve  the  privileged 
class,  either  as  slaves  or  taxpayers.  These  privileged 
classes  were  established  in  Jerusalem,  and  throughout 
the  country,  and  were  backed  by  force  of  arms.  In 
the  Castle  of  Antonio,  there  was  a  force  of  soldiers 
sufficient  to  quell  any  uprising  in  Jerusalem,  and  tlaey 
could  quickly  reach  every  part  of  Palestine.  They 
were  Rome's  guarantee  of  protection  to  the  favoured 
ones,  and  were  a  dark  and  ominous  cloud  from  which 
the  downtrodden  could  see  spears  bristling  and  blood 
dropping. 

Taxes  were  farmed  out,  publicans  paying  a  cer- 
tain price  for  the  privilege  of  collecting  them  in  a 
certain  district,  and  then  levying  any  exorbitant 
amount  that  it  was  possible  to  gather  from  the  people. 

Among  the  privileged  classes  supported  by  Rome 
were  the  following: 

The  priests  who  controlled  the  temple  worship  and 
traffic. 


MEDIATORIAL  INSURGENCY  77 

The  Herodiarts,  the  champions  of  Herod's  policies, 
who  constituted  the  special  Roman  party. 

The  Sadducees,  the  materialists  of  their  age.  They 
believed  in  no  resurrection,  no  hereafter,  and  lived  up 
to  their  doctrine  by  getting  all  that  was  possible  and 
enjoying  it  to  the  full  in  this  life.  "  Eat,  drink,  be 
merry;  for  to-morrow  you  die,"  expresses  their  creed. 

The  scribes  were  the  special  guardians  of  the 
"  system  "  of  the  law.  They  professed  ability  to  read 
and  write,  and  to  interpret  the  law  of  Moses  and  the 
traditions  of  the  elders.  They  regarded  the  common 
people  as  living  under  a  curse,  because  they  knew  not 
the  law. 

The  Pharisees  were  the  money  sharks,  who  de- 
voured widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pretense  made  long 
prayers. 

Surrounded  by  these  forces,  could  Jesus  conduct  a 
ministry  of  salvation  without  clashing  with  Rome's 
system?  Would  He  become  subservient,  and  shape 
His  teaching  to  harmonize  with  Rome's  economics? 
On  the  other  hand,  would  He  become  a  leader  of  the 
common  people,  and  would  the  enemies  of  the  exist- 
ing order  be  able  to  use  His  marvellous  personality 
and  His  divine  power  to  throw  off  the  Roman  yoke? 
Either  course  would  have  made  of  Him  a  partisan 
and  unfitted  Him  to  become  the  Mediator.  We  shall 
see  that  He  was  always  loyal  to  the  eternal  principle 
of  right,  and  knew  no  rule  of  action  except  the  will  of 
His  Father  in  heaven.    No  cliques  could  swerve  Him. 

After  having  secured  a  following  in  Galilee,  Jesus 
came  to  Jerusalem  and  soon  encountered  the  fierce 


78  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

opposition  of  the  privileged  classes.  On  His  return 
to  Galilee,  they  followed  Him  there  and  dogged  His 
steps  at  every  turn.  It  was  only  the  fear  of  the  mul* 
titude  that  kept  them  from  destroying  Him  very  early 
in  His  ministry. 

As  far  as  their  traditions  of  the  elders  and  their 
system  of  oppression  were  concerned,  Jesus  became 
an  insurgent  of  the  most  radical  kind.  The  Gospel 
of  Matthew  is  featured  with  accounts  of  His  clashes 
with  the  ruling  classes.  Indeed,  it  might  be  called 
"  The  Insurgent  Gospel."  Its  writer  was  a  tax- 
gatherer,  and  having  been  converted  from  his  alle- 
giance to  the  cliques  of  the  oppressors  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Mediator,  he  observed  with  eagle  eye 
the  conflict  that  was  on  between  Jesus  and  these  rul- 
ing classes. 

In  the  twenty-second  chapter  of  his  Gospel  there  is 
recorded  the  question  put  to  Jesus  by  the  Sadducees 
concerning  the  much-married  woman,  and  whose 
property  she  would  be  in  the  resurrection.  The  mul- 
titudes heard  Jesus'  answer  and  were  astonished  at 
His  teaching,  doubtless  because  He  had  the  courage 
to  hurl  into  the  teeth  of  these  haughty,  would-be  lead- 
ers the  statement,  "  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Scrip- 
tures nor  the  power  of  God."  They  were  so  occu- 
pied with  material  things  that  they  knew  neither 
God's  power  nor  His  promise. 

In  the  same  chapter  there  is  the  account  of  His  con- 
flict with  the  Herodians,  who  particularly  favoured 
the  Roman  regime.  They  bowed  to  the  power  that 
brought  them  profit,  and  commended  Rome  for  tax- 


MEDIATORIAL  INSURGENCY  79 

ing  the  world.  The  taxes  were  the  livest  issue  of  the 
day.  They  very  shrewdly  laid  a  trap  for  Jesus.  If 
they  could  induce  Him  to  say,  "It  is  right  to  pay 
taxes  to  Rome,"  they  could  then  turn  the  rank  and 
file  of  tax-payers  against  Him.  If  He  could  be  led 
to  say,  "It  is  not  lawful,"  then  they  could  accuse 
Him  to  the  Roman  officers.  Which  horn  of  the 
dilemma  would  He  take?  They  brought  Him  a  de- 
narius bearing  Caesar's  stamp,  and  He  said,  "  Render 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's;  and  unto 
God  the  things  that  are  God's."  As  a  true  Mediator, 
He  saw  the  right  clearly  and  always  distinguished  be- 
tween things  that  differ.  Rendering  service  to  Caesar 
would  not  ease  the  conscience  and  enable  them  to  es- 
cape the  condemnation  of  the  Almighty  for  lack  of 
faithfulness  to  His  demands.  It  is  not  strange  that 
the  people  marvelled. 

Jesus  knew  that  these  Herodians  were  His  old 
enemies:  for  as  early  as  Mark  3:  6  we  read: 

"The  Pharisees  went  out  and  straightway  with  the 
Herodians  took  counsel  against  him,  how  they  might 
destroy  him." 

Jesus  came  into  almost  constant  conflict  with  the 
scribes.  They  were  the  custodians  of  the  law  and 
were  largely  its  interpreters.  They  mixed  Moses'  law 
with  the  traditions  of  the  elders,  and  thus  concocted 
many  a  bitter  dose  for  the  people  to  swallow,  and 
many  a  heavy  burden  to  be  borne.  Jesus  said  of 
them: 

"  They  bind  heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne 


80  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

and  lay  them  on  men's  shoulders:  but  they  themselves 
will  not  move  them  with  their  ringer."  And  againj 
"  Woe  unto  you  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !  be- 
cause ye  shut  the  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men;  for 
ye  enter  not  in  yourselves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that 
are  entering  to  enter." 

He  called  them  "  blind  guides,"  "  fools,"  "  whited  sep- 
ulchers,"  "  children  of  hell,"  "  serpents,"  "  offspring  of 
vipers,"  who  "  tithed  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and 
left  undone  the  weightier  matters  of  law,  justice,  and 
mercy,  and  faith." 

Scrupulously  religious  they  were,  but  were  with- 
out mercy  or  justice  in  their  social  and  business  deal- 
ings with  their  fellow  men.  "  Justice  and  mercy " 
give  us  a  real  insight  into  the  cause  of  the  denuncia- 
tion, showing  that  it  was  largely  due  to  wrong  busi- 
ness and  social  relations  with  the  common  people.  If 
further  evidence  of  this  be  needed,  hear  Him  de- 
nounce them  for  being  "  full  from  extortion  and  ex- 
cess " — extortionate  charges,  and  excess  profits. 
They  were  the  profiteers  of  their  day,  and  drew  His 
fierce  denunciation. 

The  Pharisees  were  coupled  with  the  scribes  in 
many  of  His  denunciations.  They  all  belonged  to 
the  exploiter  class  and  were  "  hand  in  glove  "  with 
each  other,  and  with  Rome.  They  believed  in  a  fu- 
ture life  and  expected  to  enjoy  the  highest  felicity  on 
Abraham's  bosom.  If  the  common  people  endured 
patiently,  they  might  receive  some  measure  of  reward, 
as  a  compensation  for  the  extortion  and  oppression  of 
this  life!  To  the  Pharisees,  the  parable  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus  was  a  stunning  blow. 


MEDIATORIAL  INSURGENCY  81 

The  clash  with  them  came  very  early  and  continued 
during  Jesus'  ministry.  John  addressed  them  as 
"  offspring  of  vipers,"  and  told  those  of  them  who 
came  to  his  baptism  that  it  would  avail  them  noth- 
ing to  say,  "we  are  Abraham's  children;"  but  that 
the  obligation  rested  upon  them  to  "  bring  forth  fruits 
worthy  of  repentance,"  since  "  the  axe  lieth  at  the 
root  of  the  trees  and  every  tree  that  bringeth  not 
forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire." 
He  reminded  them  that  the  wheat  and  the  chaff 
should  be  separated  and  the  chaff  burned  with  "  un- 
quenchable fire." 

Well  did  Jeremy  Taylor  say  of  them: 

"  The  Pharisees  minded  what  God  spake,  but  not  what 
He  intended.  .  .  .  They  were  busy  in  the  outward 
work  of  the  hand,  but  incurious  of  the  affections  and 
choice  of  the  heart.  Their  error  was  plainly  this:  they 
never  distinguished  duties  natural  from  duties  relative; 
that  is,  whether  it  were  commanded  of  itself  or  in  order 
to  something  that  was  better,  whether  it  were  a  principal 
grace  or  an  instrumental  action.  So  God  was  served  in 
the  letter,  they  did  not  much  inquire  into  His  purpose; 
and  therefore  they  were  curious  to  wash  their  hands,  but 
cared  not  to  purify  their  hearts." 

"  Hypocrites "  was  Jesus'  favourite  name  for 
them.  In  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  He  warned  His 
followers  against  imitating  them,  even  in  prayer. 
When  the  disciples  warned  Him  that  a  saying 
of  His  had  displeased  the  Pharisees,  He  answered, 
"  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly  Father  planted 
not  shall  be  rooted  up."     As  "whited  sepulchres," 


82  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

they  were  clean  without,  but  full  of  dead  men's 
bones  within — putrid  with  corruption  as  the 
burial  place  of  the  hopes,  ambitions  and  lives  of 
widows,  orphans  and  the  helpless,  whose  substance 
they  had  destroyed  and  whose  joys  they  had  blighted. 
They  made  broad  their  phylacteries  that  they  might 
be  seen  of  men,  while  in  secret  they  devoured  widows' 
portions,  and  on  the  most  prominent  streets  made 
long  prayers  for  a  pretense.  His  verdict  was  that 
they  should  "  receive  the  greater  damnation." 

The  priesthood  was  the  last  class  with  which  Jesus 
came  into  conflict,  but  with  them  the  insurgency  was 
even  more  violent.  They  had  joined  forces  with  the 
profiteers.  Having  charge  of  the  temple,  they  had 
turned  it  into  a  source  of  revenue.  This  they  wrung 
from  the  worshippers  in  the  very  shadow  of  the  Holy 
of  Holies.  Hebrew  coins  were  required  by  the  tem- 
ple agencies,  hence  tables  were  provided  for  the 
money  changers,  who  fixed  exorbitant  rates  of  ex- 
change for  cashing  the  money  brought  by  Jews  of 
the  dispersion  from  other  countries,  and  the  Roman 
coins  then  in  circulation  in  Palestine. 

Cattle,  sheep  and  doves  were  necessary  for  the  of- 
ferings. These  had  to  be  inspected  and  O.  K.'d  by 
the  priests.  It  was  easy  to  find  some  blemish  in  the 
animal  bought  in  the  open  markets  of  the  city,  at  the 
market  price;  but  the  gilt-edged  stock  at  the  temple 
enclosure  would  always  pass  inspection.  These  had 
to  be  bought  at  a  fancy  price,  and  usually  a  "  bribe  to 
guerdon  silence"  was  provided  for  the  priest.  Pos- 
sibly this  was  one  of  the  places  where  the  exploiters 


MEDIATOEIAL  INSUBGENCY  83 

were  becoming  "  full  from  extortion  and  excess." 
Rome's  spirit  of  commercialism  had  touched  and 
blended  with  the  Hebrew  greed  for  gain,  and  the 
climax  was  reached  by  the  robber  hordes  in  the  tem- 
ple. They  fattened  off  the  necessities  of  the  wor- 
shippers, and  provided  generous  booty  for  the  ring. 

The  righteous  soul  of  the  Mediator  was  stirred  as 
He  beheld  this  inhuman  iniquity,  and  He  overturned 
the  tables  of  the  money  changers,  the  seats  of  them 
that  sold  doves — in  fact,  all  who  bought  and  sold — 
and  said,  "My  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of 
prayer;  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  thieves."  He  as- 
serted His  right  as  Mediator,  foreshadowed  the  reign 
of  justice  and  mercy,  and  the  overthrow  of  oppressive 
systems  throughout  the  world. 

Of  course  the  scribes  and  chief  priests  were  furi- 
ous. They  sought  to  destroy  Him,  but  they  feared 
Him  because  "  all  the  people  were  astonished  at  his 
doctrine."  He  was  championing  the  cause  of  the 
multitude.  They  were  surprised  at  the  radicalism  of 
His  teaching,  and  the  splendid  audacity  with  which 
He  "  bearded  the  lion  in  his  den  "  when  He  clashed 
with  the  priests  in  their  own  precincts.  In  spite  of 
their  anger  and  machinations,  He  continued  teaching 
in  the  temple  during  the  day.  He  was  safe  while  the 
people  were  with  Him.  He  did  not  trust  Himself  in 
the  city  at  night,  but  went  out  "and  abode  in  the 
mount  called  the  Mount  of  Olives."  He  knew  that 
they  would  try  to  kill  Him  by  night,  when  His 
friends  were  sleeping.  He  had  defied  them,  knowing 
the  consequences. 


84  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

We  need  not  multiply  quotations  to  show  the  in- 
surgency of  Jesus.  These  are  sufficient  to  show  that 
His  teaching  was  direct  communications  from  God, 
entirely  independent  of  the  temple  hierarchy.  For  a 
Mediator,  this  was  essential.  He  received  truth  from 
the  Father  in  heaven,  not  through  the  traditions 
taught  by  the  scribes.  He  reverenced  the  Father's 
house,  and  worshipped  God  in  the  beauty  of  holiness; 
but  all  the  bitterness  of  His  unexampled  invective  was 
used  in  denouncing  the  hypocrisy  of  the  ruling 
classes.  While  He  was  most  reverent  toward  God, 
He  was  an  insurgent  of  the  deepest  dye  as  far  as  the 
meshes  of  the  exploiters  had  been  woven  around  the 
people.  However,  in  all  things  He  preserved  the 
judicial  temperament  essential  to  a  Mediator. 

He  appealed  to  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  showing  that  His  work  was  a  continuity  of 
the  democracy  of  the  Old  Testament.  On  this  score, 
He  appealed  to  the  people  to  forsake  all  and  follow 
Him,  pointing  out  the  advantages  that  would  be  theirs 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

If  such  insurgency  seems  strange,  let  it  be  borne  in 
mind  that  a  truly  great  man  cannot  be  fashioned  in 
the  mould  of  common  humanity.  Such  a  one  lives  on 
the  heights  of  spiritual  and  intellectual  life,  not  on 
the  level,  common  plain.  He  drinks  from  fountains 
of  knowledge  unknown  to  the  common  man.  He 
breathes  an  intellectual  and  spiritual  atmosphere  that 
is  too  rarified  for  common  mortals.  Great  souls  are 
lonely,  for  there  are  few  to  commune  .with  them. 
They    are    insurgents,    perhaps   not   of    choice,    but 


MEDIATOEIAL  INSUEGENCY  85 

rather  of  necessity.  Their  thought  cannot  be  brought 
into  the  mould  of  the  old  form.  They  have  visions 
that  are  new.  They  do  not  depend  upon  what  others 
have  said:  they  are  blessed  with  intuitions  that  are 
unexplainable — intuitions  that  take  the  initiative  in 
the  search  for  new  truth. 

If  this  be  true  of  the  epoch-making  man,  how  much 
truer  it  must  be  of  one  fitted  to  be  the  Mediator  of 
human  destiny  and  welfare!  Jesus  claimed  relation- 
ship to  His  Father  in  heaven.  He  insisted  that  the 
words  He  spoke  were  not  His  own,  but  that  they  were 
from  the  Father — thus  pointing  out  the  source  of 
His  intuitions.  He  thus  possessed  a  direct  knowledge 
entirely  different  from  the  servile  system  in  vogue 
among  His  countrymen.  The  nature  of  His  being, 
and  the  necessity  of  His  program,  drove  Him  into  in- 
surgency. It  was  not  hatred  of  His  countrymen,  or 
any  desire  for  reprisals,  that  drove  Him  to  it,  but  the 
love  of  human  welfare.  He  pointed  out  the  dangers 
and  prescribed  the  remedy.  If  this  be  insurgency, 
make  the  most  of  it.  Blessed  be  such  insurgents! 
To  them  the  world  owes  its  progress.  To  the  classes 
He  was  an  insurgent,  to  the  masses, — what  ? 


VII 

THE  MEDIATOR  AND  THE  COMMON 
PEOPLE 

"  The  common  people  heard  him  gladly." — Mark 
12:37. 

"  There  went  with  him  great  multitudes." — Luke 
14: 23. 

"And  when  they  (the  rulers)  sought  to  lay  hold  on 
him,  they  feared  the  multitudes." — Matthew  21:46. 

"  The  chief  priests  and  scribes  sought  how  they  might 
put  him  to  death;  for  they  feared  the  people." — Luke 
22: 2. 

EARTH'S  greatest  men  have  ever  been  in  touch 
with  the  common  folks.  It  is  reported  of 
President  Lincoln  that  he  once  said,  "  The 
Lord  must  love  the  common  people,  or  He  never 
would  have  made  so  many  of  them."  The  great 
Martyred  President  always  delighted  to  be  classed 
with  the  rank  and  file  of  his  fellow-citizens.  It  is  said 
of  Archbishop  Tillotson,  of  London,  that  a  farmer 
who  came  a  long  distance  to  hear  one  of  his  dis- 
courses remarked  in  astonishment,  "  Can  this  be  the 
great  Bishop?  Why  he  talks  just  like  one  of  us!" 
The  Bishop's  great  heart  indited  a  common  message 
and  conveyed  it  in  language  that  was  understandable. 
How  much  this  is  like  the  Master's  teaching! 

Luke  says  the  "  polus,"  or  common  people  heard 

86 


THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  87 

Him  gladly.  This  is  the  only  place  in  the  Gospels 
where  this  word  is  applied  to  the  people.  It  means 
"  much,"  or  "  many,"  and  here  distinguishes  the  mul- 
titude from  the  scribes,  Pharisees,  Herodians  and 
Sadducees.  These  sects  Jesus  had  put  to  silence  by 
His  answers  and  questions.  The  common  people  saw 
in  Him  a  leader  of  unusual  power  and  transcendent 
wisdom.  His  friendship  for  them  helped  to  bring 
Him  into  clash  with  the  privileged  class;  and  yet, 
Jesus  was  not  a  champion  of  a  class.  He  maintained 
the  impartiality  of  a  Mediator.  He  dealt  with  man  as 
man,  not  as  rich  or  poor,  wise  or  illiterate,  but  as  the 
possessor  of  a  soul  and  entitled  to  treatment  due  a 
human  being. 

This,  again,  helped  to  bring  Him  into  clash  with 
the  privileged  class;  for  they  treated  the  common 
man  as  "  a  thing,"  not  a  person ;  yea,  a  thing  to  be 
exploited  for  the  benefit  of  the  "  Overman  "  class. 

The  common  people  heard  Jesus  gladly  because 
He  had  a  message  for  them.  Most  of  the  religious 
services  were  attended  only  by  the  upper  classes. 
The  lower  classes  were  able  to  make  only  the  least 
expensive  of  the  required  offerings.  Jesus  taught 
them  that  the  kingdom  which  He  came  to  establish 
would  be  open  to  them,  and  that  they  might  become 
the  children  of  God  through  faith  in  Him.  He  made 
religion  personal — not  something  that  priests  could 
perform  for  them.  It  was  to  be  a  personal  life,  and 
personal  worship,  in  which  each  could  have  a  part. 
It  was  not  a  form  of  incantation,  or  a  service  to  ap- 
pease an  angry  God,  but  was  the  child  in  communion 


88  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

with  the  great  Father.  In  making  men  better  and 
happier,  it  touched  the  realm  of  morals  in  a  way  that 
promised  better  conditions  and  juster  treatment  for 
all. 

As  might  be  inferred  from  the  recital  of  condi- 
tions, the  common  people  were  discontented.  They 
wanted  a  leader  who  would  enable  them  to  better 
their  conditions.  There  had  been  a  long  struggle  be- 
tween the  masses  and  the  classes.  This  struggle  was 
aided  and  abetted  by  the  Romans,  who  were  always 
on  the  side  of  the  classes.  To  them  the  common  peo- 
ple were  but  goods  and  chattels.  Their  mission  was 
to  earn  bread  and  bring  luxuries  to  the  favoured  ones. 
When  occasion  demanded,  they  were  enslaved  with- 
out mercy.  Fifty  years  before  this,  Rome  captured 
fifty  thousand  Jews  and  sold  them  into  slavery. 
When  Jesus  was  a  boy,  Sepphoris,  a  town  near  to 
Nazareth,  was  overrun  and  the  population  carried 
into  slavery.  Worse  than  that  of  Belgium  was  its 
fate.  These  Sepphoris  slaves  were  countrymen  of 
Jesus.  In  the  tenderness  of  His  boyhood  heart,  would 
not  this  unspeakable  outrage  upon  His  people  appeal 
to  Him  as  one  of  the  evils  from  which  He  needed  to 
save  them,  and  lead  Him  to  strike  the  monster  the 
staggering  blow  from  which  it  has  been  writhing  for 
two  thousand  years. 

In  his  young  manhood  days,  Abraham  Lincoln  saw 
the  heartlessness  of  slavery,  in  a  southern  city,  and 
registered  a  vow  that  he  would  "  hit  that  thing,  and 
hit  it  hard."  The  Emancipation  Proclamation  was 
his  final  blow.    It  was  the  spiritual  and  social  eman- 


THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  89 

cipation  of  the  common  people  that  the  Mediator 
sought. 

His  task  was  difficult.  A  long  course  of  teaching 
was  necessary,  but  the  philosophers  of  Jesus'  day 
taught  only  their  chosen  disciples,  or  discussed  their 
wisdom  with  one  another.  To  teach  the  common  peo- 
ple was  deemed  unworthy  of  their  high  position. 
This  was  common  in  oriental  religions.  In  Hindoo- 
stan,  Brahmins  and  their  pupils  only  were  permitted 
to  be  taught.  He  who  taught  the  sacred  books  to  in- 
feriors had  heated  oil,  wax  and  melted  tin  poured  into 
his  ears.  For  the  common  people  to  memorize  any 
portion  of  the  sacred  books,  the  penalty  was  death. 
Is  it  strange  that  when  Jesus  broke  over  all  conven- 
tionalities, and  braved  the  scorn  of  the  upper  classes, 
the  common  people  heard  Him  gladly?  He  lived 
with  them,  He  taught  them,  He  fed  them,  He  healed 
them,  He  loved  them,  and  for  their  sakes  broke  the 
ceremonial  laws  of  tradition.  To  the  thousands  of 
them  He  was  a  Deliverer,  as  they  followed  Him  to 
His  mountain  retreat,  to  hang  upon  His  words  and 
feast  upon  His  miraculously  multiplied  food. 

The  educated  among  the  Jews  said,  "  The  common 
people  are  cursed  because  they  know  not  the  law." 
Strict  ritualists  immersed  themselves  in  water  after  a 
visit  to  the  crowded  streets  and  markets,  lest  they 
may  have  come  into  touch  with  some  one  of  the  com- 
mon people,  even  by  being  jostled  against  them. 
Such  a  touch  would  render  the  "  high-brow "  cere- 
monially unclean.  How  different  was  Jesus'  asso- 
ciation with  them,  even  "  eating  with  sinners." 


90  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

The  common  people  were  practically  without  hu- 
man rights,  without  religious  teaching,  without 
friends — the  victims  of  exploitation  and  the  possible 
slaves  of  any  armed  force  that  might  be  sent  against 
them  by  those  in  authority.  To  appeal  to  Rome  was 
useless,  for  Rome  regarded  them  as  legitimate  prey. 

Jesus  gave  the  common  people  a  new  and  broader 
vision  of  religion.  He  made  it  mean  more  to  them. 
He  proclaimed  God's  love  to  all — to  Jew  and  Gentile. 
To  the  narrow,  orthodox  Jew  of  that  day,  a  Gentile 
was  but  a  dog.  He  had  no  covenant  privileges  and 
no  standing  among  the  descendants  of  Abraham. 
The  common  people  still  rejoiced  in  their  lineage,  and 
to  some  extent  shared  this  view.  However,  with 
many  of  them,  a  fellowship  in  suffering  and  associa- 
tion in  labour  had  brought  kindlier  feelings  than 
welled  up  in  the  breasts  of  the  favoured  classes. 
They  were  kindlier  disposed,  had  wider  vision,  and 
were  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  tenderer  side  of 
life,  which  enabled  them  to  realize  the  kith  and  kin  of 
all  men. 

Jesus'  disciples  were  chosen  from  the  common  peo- 
ple— the  great  middle  class.  They  belonged  neither 
to  the  submerged,  nor  to  the  "  upper  ten."  Most  of 
them  were  property  holders,  some  of  them  well-to-do, 
but  none  of  them  belonged  to  the  exploiter  class,  ex- 
cept Matthew  and  Zaccheus,  both  of  whom  gave  the 
strongest  evidence  of  sound  conversion.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  printing,  the  code  of  a  Mediator  had  to  be 
communicated  almost  entirely  by  oral  teaching.  It 
was  therefore  of  prime  importance  that  it  be  first 


THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  91 

delivered  to  men  of  unprejudiced  minds  and  teach- 
able dispositions.  Jesus'  followers  were  teachable, 
which  is  decidedly  more  than  can  be  said  for  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees.  Blinded  by  pride  and  preju- 
dice, their  minds  were  not  open  to  receive  the  revela- 
tion of  a  Mediator,  especially  when  it  meant  "  the 
greater  damnation  "  to  them.  They  dare  not  accept 
the  new  regime.  Jesus  laid  the  foundations  of  media- 
tion by  teaching  truth  that  touched  the  heart  of  hu- 
manity. It  therefore  appealed  strongly  to  the  com- 
mon people,  with  whom  the  sweep  of  feeling  played  a 
large  part  in  religious  life. 

Jesus  made  service,  not  position,  the  test  of  great- 
ness. This  brought  to  the  common  people  possibili- 
ties heretofore  unknown.  The  man  who  would  be 
great  should  not  unsheath  his  sword,  raise  an  army 
and  be  placed  upon  a  throne,  as  was  the  world's  con- 
ception of  greatness ;  but,  "  let  him  become  a  serv- 
ant." One  who  would  become  greatest  should  be- 
come a  "  minister,"  or  "  bondservant."  Bondserv- 
ants to  righteousness  in  the  new  kingdom  would  out- 
class all  the  splendours  of  earth's  aristocracy  when 
the  king  should  come  in  His  glory! 

Jesus  made  common  cause  with  the  common  people 
and  classed  Himself  among  them.  "  The  Son  of 
Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minis- 
ter: "  not  to  be  served,  but  to  serve.  He  invited  this 
class  to  come  unto  Him :  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
What  words  could  be  sweeter  or  more  gracious  to  the 
weary  and  oppressed?     The  words  came  from  Him 


92  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

as  from  one  having  authority,  and  the  heavy  laden 
ones  relied  on  what  He  said.  He  was  popular  with 
the  common  people,  to  whom  He  was  both  Mediator 
and  Deliverer. 

It  is  through  the  teaching  of  Jesus  that  the  com- 
mon people  have  risen  to  their  present  commanding 
position.  The  principles  which  He  taught  improve 
the  person.  His  doctrine  of  personal  regeneration — 
of  one  being  made  a  child  of  God — appeals  to  the 
highest  and  best  there  is  in  the  individual.  It  is  seen 
throughout  the  history  of  Christianity  that  one  no 
sooner  comes  to  know  Jesus  as  a  personal  Saviour 
than  life  begins  to  improve.  The  converted  thief 
steals  no  more;  the  converted  embezzler  makes  resti- 
tution, and  the  converted  harlot  becomes  a  chaste 
woman.  If  proof  be  needed  that  His  teaching  is  di- 
vine, it  is  found  in  the  transformation  of  those  whose 
lives  His  doctrine  dominates. 

When  followed,  Jesus'  teaching  becomes  a  code 
which  improves  conditions.  Into  many  a  home  of 
poverty,  squalor  and  crime  it  has  gone  and  changed 
it  into  an  abode  of  love,  tenderness  and  tidiness.  Into 
factory,  store  and  office  it  has  gone,  and  questionable 
methods  and  practices  have  given  place  to  the  Golden 
Rule.  To  more  fully  realize  the  power  of  His  code 
to  change  conditions,  it  is  only  necessary  to  contrast 
countries  where  His  principles  are  most  closely  fol- 
lowed with  lands  in  which  Christianity  is  unknown. 
What  conditions  of  society,  home,  business,  earning 
power  and  living  of  the  common  people  are  brought 
out  by  the  contrast?     What  nation  has  *  developed!  a 


THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  93 

worth-while  civilization,  or  evolved  an  efficient  indus- 
trial system,  without  Christianity? 

The  order  in  which  improved  conditions  have  been 
brought  about  is  suggestive:  Religious  emancipation 
always  has  stood  first.  False  religions  and  dominat- 
ing superstitions  are  fetters  which  must  be  broken  be- 
fore any  marked  improvement  is  possible.  To  meet 
this  requirement,  the  Mediator  said,  "  Seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  God."  That  means  religious  eman- 
cipation. 

The  second  is  intellectual  freedom.  When  the 
shackles  are  struck  from  religious  life,  the  power  of 
a  new  affection  wells  up  in  the  soul  and  seeks  expres- 
sion in  intellectual  activities.  That  schoolhouses  al- 
ways have  followed  churches  is  sufficient  proof  of 
this  statement. 

The  third  step  in  the  betterment  of  conditions  is  in 
political  improvement.  Better  forms  of  government 
are  sought.  Religious  democracy  will  function  in  a 
larger  political  democracy,  and  eventually  in  an  in- 
dustrial democracy.  When  the  worth  of  the  individ- 
ual is  understood,  that  individual  becomes  a  power  to 
reckon  with  in  the  progress  of  human  affairs.  An- 
cient Rome  was  a  despotism  of  the  most  desperate 
sort.  The  Emperor  was  commander-in-chief  of  an 
armed  and  encamped  nation.  The  privileged  class 
sought  to  destroy  Christianity;  for  it  was  seen  that 
the  doctrine  that  no  man  should  be  master  of  another 
would  overthrow  the  whole  social  and  political  struc- 
ture. Nero  persecuted.  Augustine  saw  the  folly  of 
this,  and  attempted  to  create  a  hierarchy  of  Chris- 


94  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

tianity.  Aristotle  taught  that  there  may  be  govern- 
ment by  one,  government  by  few,  or  government  by 
many;  but  it  remained  for  Christianity  to  set  forth 
the  idea  of  "  self-government."  Man's  idea  was  of 
power  that  should  be  handed  down  to  those  who  ex- 
ercise authority.  The  Mediator's  code  reversed  this, 
showing  that  in  God's  plan,  power  is  handed  up  to 
those  who  have  been  chosen  to  serve  the  people.  The 
greatest  man  is  the  one  who  renders  the  greatest  serv- 
ice to  the  largest  number  of  people.  "  Ye  are 
brethren."  "  He  who  would  be  greatest,  let  him  be 
bondservant.,,  Men  are  elected  to  positions  of  trust 
and  honour  to  serve,  not  to  be  served. 

The  fourth  step  in  the  improvement  of  the  common 
people  is  in  the  industrial  realm — in  pecuniary  and 
material  things.  Men  would  reverse  the  order  and 
have  material  things  first.  However,  that  is  not  the 
program  of  the  Mediator,  who  says,  "  Seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  The  kingdom  of  God  is  "not  meat  and 
drink,"  but  the  reign  of  the  spiritual  over  the  ma- 
terial. This  indicates  the  order  in  which  the  regen- 
eration of  society  may  be  expected. 

However,  the  plain  intent  of  the  code  is  that  the 
regenerating  influences  shall  not  stop  short  of  this 
part  of  one's  being.  There  are  reactionary  influences 
that  make  it  a  hopeless  task  to  undertake  to  achieve 
the  highest  attainments  spiritually,  socially  and 
politically,  and  leave  untouched  the  most  vulnerable 
part  of  humanity, — namely,  the  desire  to  get  worldly 
goods.     Alexander   Hamilton   well   said,   "  When  a 


THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  9F 

man  controls  my  subsistence,  he  practically  controls 
me."  With  an  industrial  and  economic  system  that 
controls  the  subsistence  of  people,  their  emancipation 
cannot  be  complete,  and  their  highest  welfare,  tem- 
porally and  spiritually,  cannot  be  attained. 

Will  the  common  people  enthrone  Jesus  as  Media- 
tor and  permit  Him  to  complete  their  emancipation? 
During  His  ministry,  they  flocked  to  His  standard, 
then  in  large  numbers  deserted  Him.  After  His 
resurrection,  they  flocked  to  His  standard  by  thou- 
sands.   Will  they  again  make  Him  Mediator? 

Then  they  did  not  understand  His  mission.  They 
reversed  His  order.  They  did  not  seek  a  spiritual 
Mediator:  they  wanted  an  earthly  king — one  who 
would  minister  to  worldly  needs  and  ambitions.  He 
had  miraculously  fed  them.  Heaven's  commissary 
seemed  to  them  to  be  at  His  command.  His  power 
could  break  the  dominion  of  Rome,  and  no  supply 
train  would  be  needed  to  follow  His  army.  They  fol- 
lowed Him  because  of  the  loaves  and  fishes.  Loaf- 
and-fish  religion  always  will  have  throngs  of  follow- 
ers, but  it  divorces  the  soul  from  the  body  and  min- 
isters only  to  the  lower  nature.  Forms  of  religion 
which  are  strong  on  the  gospel  of  better  sanitation, 
better  homes,  better  wages,  better  business  conditions, 
and  are  short  on  the  heart  qualities  which  guide  in 
the  production  of  these  things,  miss  the  first  requisite 
in  the  Mediator's  code.  He  came  to  minister  to  the 
whole  man. 

Jesus  declined  to  be  king,  when  the  kingdom  sim- 
ply meant  better  physical  conditions.     He  said,  "  My 


96  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  " — not  controlled  by 
physical  whims  and  worldly  ambitions — but  is,  first 
of  all,  spiritual.  The  spiritual  controls  the  physical, 
and  is  the  only  permanent,  abiding,  force  that  can 
maintain  its  supremacy.  In  this  realm  Jesus  is 
Mediator,  and  is  therefore  capable  of  adjusting  all 
human  differences. 

When  the  common  people  of  modern  times  unitedly 
rally  to  His  standard,  the  voice  of  Jesus  will  be  heard 
in  the  sphere  of  economics,  and  the  demon  of  covet- 
ousness,  selfishness  and  oppression  will  be  cast  out 
forever.  When  His  code  settles  the  differences  of 
employer  and  employee,  the  wheels  of  industry  will 
run  uninterruptedly,  and  unceasing  songs  of  joy  will 
arise  from  the  homes  of  the  great  common  people. 

That  the  spirit  of  the  Mediator  is  touching  the  em- 
ployer group,  and  that  the  dawn  of  a  better  day  for 
the  common  people  is  appearing,  will  be  seen  still 
more  vividly  in  the  following  quotations,  taken  from 
an  address  given  by  the  president  of  one  of  the  larg- 
est manufacturing  corporations  in  the  world.  Speak- 
ing to  employers,  he  said : 

"  You  have  in  management,  in  greater  or  less  degree, 
marked  responsibilities  in  regard  to  each  and  all  of  the 
groups  described."  (Employers,  employees  and  the  pub- 
lic.) "You  could  not  shirk  or  minimize  them  if  you 
desired  to  do  so.  As  a  business  citizen  you  must  ac- 
count to  others  for  your  stewardship.  What  you  say, 
what  you  do,  will  have  an  important  influence  in  na- 
tional, even  international  affairs.  It  will  be  good  or 
bad.  You  must  consistently  observe  the  principles  of 
the  Constitution,  the  provisions  of  the  laws  of  the  land, 


THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  97 

the  rights  and  interests  of  your  neighbours,  including 
your  employees,  customers,  competitors  and  the  general 
public.  You  must  be  unselfish,  reasonable,  fair,  sincere 
and  honest.  You  should,  without  interruption,  give  evi- 
dence of  a  disposition  to  conciliate  and  cooperate.  Re- 
gardless of  the  past,  even  though  you  may  believe  that 
you  have  been  unjustly  treated  or  censured,  you  should 
and  will  make  and  keep  resolutions  for  the  future  which 
you  know  are  proper.  All  this,  of  course,  applies  with 
full  force  to  your  President." 

Speaking  of  employees,  after  many  years  of  ex- 
perience with  them,  Judge  Gary  paid  them  the  follow- 
ing tribute : 

"  The  great  mass  of  employees,  if  left  to  decide  for 
themselves,  are  loyal  to  the  country,  to  the  public  inter- 
est and  to  their  employers ;  and  to  the  extent  of  this  loy- 
alty they  will  be  rewarded  up  to  the  full  measure  of 
their  deserts.  This  they  will  have  the  right  to  demand; 
and  it  will  be  readily  and  cheerfully  accorded.  They 
also  should,  and  they  will,  continuously  exercise  a  dis- 
position to  conciliate  and  cooperate.  As  applied  to  all 
groups,  faithful  performance,  and  this  only,  will  insure 
highest  pecuniary  results  and  most  liberal  treatment." — 
Elbert  H.  Gary,  President  American  Iron  and  Steel 
Institute. 

That  folks  who  do  not  accept  Jesus  as  a  personal 
Saviour,  who  have  no  appreciation  of  the  spiritual 
value  of  His  Gospel,  nevertheless  are  aware  of  the 
economic  advantages  that  would  accrue  to  all  from 
His  mediatorship  in  material  matters  is  seen  in  the 
following  quotation  from  Lord  Bolingbroke,  an 
avowed  infidel: 


98  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

"  No  religion  ever  appeared  in  the  world  whose  tend- 
ency was  so  much  directed  to  promote  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  mankind  as  the  Christian  religion.  The 
Gospel  of  Christ  is  one  lesson  of  the  strictest  morality, 
of  justice,  benevolence,  and  universal  charity.  Suppos- 
ing Christianity  to  be  a  human  invention,  it  is  the  most 
remarkable  and  successful  invention  that  was  ever  im- 
posed on  mankind  for  their  good." 

That  Jesus'  teaching  is  awakening  a  new  world- 
consciousness  among  the  common  people,  which  is  be- 
ing recognized  by  world  leaders,  may  be  seen  in  the 
timely  address  of  welcome  given  by  Warren  G. 
Harding,  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  Con- 
ference on  Armaments,  assembled  in  Washington, 
D.  C.  That  the  address  was  an  appreciative  ^inter- 
pretation of  the  spirit  of  the  people,  the  following 
excerpt  will  show: 

"  Here  is  a  meeting,  I  can  well  believe,  which  is  an  ear- 
nest of  the  awakened  conscience  of  twentieth-century 
civilization.  It  is  not  a  convention  of  remorse,  nor  a  ses- 
sion of  sorrow.  It  is  not  the  conference  of  victors  to 
define  terms  of  settlement.  Nor  is  it  a  council  of  nations 
seeking  to  remake  humankind.  It  is  rather  a  coming  to- 
gether from  all  parts  of  the  earth  to  apply  the  better  attri- 
butes of  mankind  to  minimize  the  faults  in  our  interna- 
tional relationships.  .  .  .  All  of  us  demand  liberty 
and  justice.  Inherent  rights  are  of  God,  and  the  trage- 
dies of  the  world  originate  in  their  attempted  denial. 
The  world  to-day  is  infringing  their  enjoyment  by  arming 
to  defend  or  deny,  when  simple  sanity  calls  for  their  rec- 
ognition through  common  understanding." 


VIII 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  THE  FIELD  AND 
FORCE  OF  THE  MEDIATOR 

"  Now,  after  John  was  delivered  up,  Jesus  came  into 
Galilee,  preaching  the  gospel  of  God,  and  saying,  '  The 
time  is  fulfilled,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand:  re- 
pent ye  and  believe  the  gospel.'  " — Mark  i:  14-15. 

THE  intolerable  conditions  set  forth  in  preced- 
ing chapters  were  but  surface  indications  of 
a  malignant,  worldly  and  devilish  kingdom, 
whose  genius  was  evil  and  evil  only.  In  contrast  to 
this,  and  in  conflict  with  it,  the  Mediator  set  a  king- 
dom of  good,  presided  over  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  He 
was  the  Initiator  of  the  new  kingdom,  and  placed  it 
in  the  center  of  His  system  of  ethics.  He  stood 
within  it  and  spoke  from  it,  sending  forth  His  mes- 
sages of  love  and  justice,  as  from  a  throne  of  right- 
eousness. Into  it  He  put  the  power  that  is  to  over- 
throw the  kingdom  of  evil.  Its  growth  is  gradual, 
and  as  its  ethical  principles  control  mankind,  better 
conditions  will  permeate  the  economic  realm. 

The  study  of  the  kingdom  is  important,  since  most 
of  Jesus'  ethical  teaching  is  found  in  its  warp  and 
woof.  Churches  may  worship  with  little  thought  of 
ethical  requirements,  and  in  forgetfulness  of  econom- 
ics; but  the  code  of  the  Mediator  is  inseparable  from 

99 


100         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

the  kingdom  ideal.  The  kingdom  occupied  the  chief 
place  in  His  mind,  but  it  atrophied  very  early  in  the 
history  of  Christianity,  when  the  emphasis  was 
shifted  from  it  to  the  Church.  Economic  interests 
demand  the  renewal  of  the  kingdom  ideal;  for,  los- 
ing this  ideal,  we  lose  the  Mediator's  point  of  view 
and  become  incapable  of  understanding  Him.  In 
fact,  it  is  the  kingdom  ideal  that  gives  Him  the  place 
of  Mediator. 

It  has  been  said  that  Jesus  began  His  ministry  with 
the  idea  of  calling  Israel  to  repentance,  and  then 
bringing  the  Jews  national  prosperity;  but  that  they 
demanded  prosperity  without  repentance,  rejected 
Him,  and  hence  could  not  become  a  great  Hebrew 
commonwealth;  and  that  it  was  when  He  saw  this 
condition  arising  that  the  idea  of  a  new,  spiritual 
kingdom  shaped  His  program.  However,  a  careful 
study  of  His  teaching  will  show  that  the  kingdom 
ideal  was  present  from  the  beginning  of  His  ministry. 

The  Jews  expected  that  the  Messiah  would  found 
a  kingdom.  From  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  cap- 
tivity, their  patriotism  and  their  religion  led  them  to 
look  for  a  Deliverer  who  would  establish  for  them  a 
kingdom  surer  than  that  of  David.  Jesus  declared 
that  He  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill,  the  Mes- 
sianic expectations.  He  claimed  a  continuity  of  pur- 
pose running  through  the  Old  Testament  and  culmi- 
nating in  the  kingdom  which  He  came  to  establish. 
Into  this  kingdom  He  would  weave  the  democratic 
ideals  of  the  purer  age  of  the  Hebrew  people,  and 
with  the  forces  of  this  kingdom  He  would  destroy 


THE  KINGDOM  THE  FIELD  AND  FORCE    101 

the  "  Empire  of  Exploitation "  which  Rome  had 
fastened  upon  the  world. 

The  kingdom  of  heaven,  or  the  kingdom  of  God, 
might  mean  any  one  of  four  things:  It  means  God's 
reign,  and  it  might  be  His  reign  through  natural 
law,  or  a  theocracy  (the  old  idea  of  the  religious 
commonwealth  of  the  Jews)  or  His  reign  through 
moral  law,  or  the  reign  of  grace.  His  reign  through 
natural  and  moral  law  does  not  "  come  " :  it  "  is  " : 
hence  it  must  mean  His  reign  theocratically,  or 
through  grace. 

Jewish  literature  to  some  extent  favours  the  theo- 
cratic idea.  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  preached  a  national 
restoration;  but  Malachi  (1:  10)  presents  the  temple 
closed  and  worship  in  Gentile  lands — not  Gentiles 
coming  to  Jerusalem.  Jesus'  refusal  to  become  king 
of  a  material  kingdom,  while  insisting  that  He  is  king 
in  the  spiritual  realm,  practically  settles  the  question 
and  coincides  with  the  prophecy  of  Malachi. 

The  average  Jew  saw  the  kingdom  in  national  out- 
line, narrow  and  hazy.  In  his  teaching,  John  the  Bap- 
tist made  the  outline  deep  and  definite.  Jesus  shed 
the  full  effulgence  of  spiritual  light  upon  it,  trans- 
fusing it  with  a  glory  that  blotted  out  racial  and  po- 
litical limitations,  and  made  it  the  "  Pearl  of  Great 
Price,"  greater  than  all  else.  However,  John  sought 
a  national  repentance,  saw  its  impossibilities,  and 
knew  that  his  message  was  one  of  gloom,  as  but  com- 
paratively few  repented.  Jesus'  teaching  made  His 
followers  happy.  It  was  a  message  of  grace  and  one 
that  touched  all  sides  of  human  life.     "  The  law  was 


102  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  through 
Jesus  Christ." 

There  is  an  interior  fitness  for  the  kingdom  which 
is  essential  to  any  successful  economic  regeneration. 
"If  ye  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,  neither  will 
your  heavenly  Father  forgive  you."  An  unforgiving 
spirit  would  prevent  cooperation,  as  well  as  destroy 
the  individual.  This  truth  finds  illustration  in  the 
parable  of  the  Unforgiving  Servant. 

The  kingdom  was  to  be  composed  of,  and  ruled  by, 
its  citizens — not  the  privileged  class — hence  the  ques- 
tion of  citizenship  was  all  important.  Jesus  invited 
"  the  poor,"  "  sinners,"  "  the  lost "  and  the  outcasts. 
He  could  open  the  gates  to  the  moral  refuse  of  so- 
ciety, for  He  changed  their  hearts.  He  made  it  a 
kingdom  of  grace — not  of  law — that  it  might  be  a 
kingdom  of  holiness,  and  that  its  citizens  might  be 
enabled  to  enjoy  its  spiritual  and  economic  privileges. 
Folks  could  be  born  into  its  citizenship,  but  could  not 
purchase  its  privileges.  Like  ancient  Rome,  it  opened 
its  gates  to  all  comers,  on  condition  that  they  conduct 
themselves  as  good  citizens  while  within  its  walls. 
This  interest  in  the  "  lost  sheep  of  Israel "  alarmed 
the  leaders,  who  instead  of  being  shepherds  to  the 
flock  renewed  their  plots  to  kill  Jesus. 

This  led  to  the  individualizing  of  the  kingdom.  It 
did  not  come  with  observation — with  armies  and  fly- 
ing banners — but  within  the  hearts  of  those  who  be- 
lieved on  Jesus.  The  renewal  began  with  the  indi- 
vidual, hence  the  personal  element  was  made  promi- 
nent.    The  parable  of  the  Leaven  pictured  the  yeast 


THE  KINGDOM  THE  FIELD  AND  FORCE    103 

going  from  particle  to  particle  until  the  whole  mass 
was  touched  and  leavened.  The  attitude  of  the  indi- 
vidual must  be  dealt  with.  In  the  kingdom  it  would 
no  longer  be  a  question,  "  What  can  I  get  ?  "  Rather 
it  would  be  "  What  can  I  give?  "  That  it  is  "  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,"  is  an  accepted  axiom 
of  the  kingdom.  Economically,  the  question  of  the 
employer  who  yields  allegiance  to  this  kingdom  is  not, 
"  What  can  I  get  out  of  my  employees?  "  but  rather, 
"What  can  I  do  for  them?"  Not,  "What  is  the 
lowest  wage  for  which  I  can  get  their  service?"  but, 
"  What  is  the  highest  wage  I  can  afford  to  pay  ?  " 
To  the  employee,  the  question  would  not  be  "  How 
small  a  service  can  I  render?",  but,  "How  large  a 
place  can  I  fill,  and  how  can  I  speed  up  the  output  ?  " 
Not,  "What  is  the  largest  wage  I  can  force?",  but, 
"What  is  the  largest  service  I  can  render?"  This 
would  reverse  the  order  of  inquiry,  but  it  would  mean 
infinitely  larger  prosperity  for  all  concerned. 

But  the  Mediator  spiritualised  His  kingdom,  too. 

"  It  is  an  ideal  hovering  over  all  societies,  like  Plato's 
Republic,  not  fully  realized  on  earth,  but  in  a  supersen- 
sible world." — Baur. 

However,  this  does  not  banish  the  kingdom  from 
the  earth  to  the  skies.  It  is  present  within  hearts,  but 
within  hearts  that  are  set  on  higher  things.  It  con- 
cerned Israel  first,  but  was  to  become  a  society  on 
earth — social  and  widening — for  its  spirit  is  love  and 
love  seeks  fellowship.  It  is  open  to  all  on  conditions 
of  repentance  and  faith,  or  in  a  word,  receptivity. 


104         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

Its  spiritual  nature  is  seen  in  the  place  it  gives  to 
repentance  and  faith.  Jesus*  doctrine  of  God  and 
man,  as  well  as  that  of  the  kingdom,  must  be  kept 
in  mind  to  understand  what  He  means  by  repent- 
ance. 

If  God  is  a  Father,  repentance  means  to  cease  re- 
garding Him  otherwise — as  an  Avenger,  or  mere 
Lawgiver,  or  Creator.  If  we  are,  or  can  become,  His 
children,  it  means  to  realize  human  dignity  and  re- 
sponsibility. If  the  kingdom  is  spiritual,  repentance 
means  not  moral  reformation  only,  but  a  choice  be- 
tween true  and  false  righteousness.  If  the  kingdom 
has  not  been  regarded  as  the  highest  good,  the  great- 
est value,  repentance  means  to  so  regard  it,  placing  it 
above  everything  else.  It  makes  man's  chief  end  to 
be  to  seek  the  righteousness  of  the  kingdom  first,  thus 
establishing  filial  relations  with  God.  As  John 
preached  repentance,  it  was  a  matter  of  acts;  but  as 
Jesus  preached  it,  it  is  a  matter  of  disposition. 

Repentance  being  a  state  of  mind,  conversion  may 
be  oft  repeated.  When  the  kingdom  is  put  second, 
one  needs  to  be  converted.  For  instance,  the  disciples 
chose  it  as  greater  than  all  worldly  good,  but  they 
soon  quarrelled  about  high  places  in  it,  putting  their 
selfish  interests  first.  Jesus  said  to  them,  "  Except 
ye  turn,  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  cannot  enter 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  That  turning  was  conver- 
sion. The  self-seeking  need  the  same  admonition. 
Peter  was  warned  of  his  turning  away,  and  was  told, 
•"  When  thou  art  converted,  strengthen  the  brethren." 
A  conversion  that  would  put  the  affairs  of  the  king- 


THE  KINGDOM  THE  FIELD  AND  FORCE    105 

dom  first  would  strengthen  saints  everywhere,  and 
usher  in  a  golden  era  of  prosperity. 

Repentance  has  reference  to  a  right  attitude  of 
mind  as  a  preparation  for  the  kingdom — for  its  duties 
and  rewards.  Faith,  however,  has  reference  to  the 
receiving  of  the  kingdom.  It  is  not  a  kingdom  of 
law,  in  which  God  makes  demands,  but  one  of  grace, 
freely  given.  Faith  is  the  hand  by  which  it  is  received: 
it  is  spiritual  receptivity.  The  message,  in  substance 
is,  "  Make  the  kingdom  welcome,  and  it  will  make 
you  welcome."  The  Jew  made  the  kingdom  a  legal 
matter.  John  preached  conformity  to  law;  but  the 
Mediator  gave  the  Gospel  for  earth's  millions, — 
namely,  a  kingdom  received  by  faith.  This  faith  is 
not  a  separate  faculty,  but  is  the  functioning  of  the 
whole  mind  on  religion.  It  is  the  throwing  aside  of 
everything  else  for  the  kingdom  and  receiving  it  as 
the  highest  good.  The  soul  exerts  all  its  energies  in 
believing,  and  when  thus  concentrated  upon  the  high- 
est good,  faith  can  make  a  child  of  God  of  a  Gentile 
"  dog,"  and  give  not  simply  the  crumbs  from  beneath, 
but  the  richest  viands  upon,  the  table.  The  bestowal 
of  the  highest  good — call  it  salvation,  or  whatever 
one  chooses — must  come  through  faith. 

Jesus  said,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world," 
and  yet  this  kingdom  is  not  heaven.  To  enter  the 
kingdom  is  not  to  enter  heaven,  but  it  is  to  have  the 
spirit  of  heaven  enter  the  individual  and  create  a  new 
disposition,  which  is  more  needed  than  a  new  dis- 
pensation. It  is  designed  to  bring  heaven  down  to 
earth,  and  ultimately  to  lift  its  citizens  to  the  heaven 


106  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

above.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  law  of  heaven,  or 
the  law  of  love,  brought  down  to  earth:  a  kingdom 
made  up  of  common,  earthly  folks,  but  with  disposi- 
tions so  renewed  that  the  love  of  heaven  becomes  the 
animating  principle  of  life. 

This  kingdom  necessarily  stands  in  opposition  to 
the  kingdom  of  greed  and  oppression.  To  its  first 
leaders,  Jesus  said: 

"The  kings  of  the  Gentiles  have  lordship  over  them; 
and  they  that  have  authority  over  them  are  called  bene- 
factors. But  ye  shall  not  be  so:  but  he  that  is  greater 
among  you,  let  him  become  as  the  younger;  and  he  that 
is  chief,  as  he  that  doth  serve." 

No  movement  can  succeed  without  principles 
adapted  to  its  purpose,  and  one  of  the  first  essentials 
to  the  people  interested  in  the  movement  is  a  knowl- 
edge of,  and  obedience  to,  these  principles.  This 
makes  possible  relationships  of  cooperation.  Spiri- 
tual likeness  to  God  is  to  be  sought.  As  two  things 
like  unto  the  same  thing  are  like  unto  each  other,  so 
to  the  degree  that  His  followers  became  like  unto  God 
would  they  be  like  unto  each  other.  This  would  cre- 
ate a  mind  and  disposition  that  would  make  coopera- 
tion possible.  Thinking  God's  thoughts,  they  would 
come  to  think  alike ;  loving  the  things  that  God  loves, 
they  would  come  to  love  the  things  that  each  other 
appreciate;  enlisting  in  the  work  that  occupies  the  at- 
tention of  the  Father  in  heaven,  they  would  soon  be 
working  together  as  brethren.  To  individualize  the 
kingdom  without  spiritualizing  it  would  make  it  anti- 
social; but  to  impart  the  love  of  God  through  spiri- 


THE  KINGDOM  THE  FIELD  AND  FORCE    107 

tualizing  it  is  to  make  its  citizens  "  kindly  aff  ectioned 
one  toward  another,"  and  to  insure  cooperation  in 
matters  spiritual  and  economic. 

However,  the  communications  revealing  these 
things,  and  the  principles  directing  such  action,  must 
come  down  from  above,  hence  it  is  a  kingdom  from 
heaven,  and  God  being  the  Supreme  King,  it  is  also 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  world's  welfare  is  bound 
up  within  its  possibilities,  and  to  its  Founder  do  we 
have  to  look  for  the  Mediator  who  can  direct  the  ap- 
plication of  its  principles  in  winning  the  victory  over 
the  kingdom  of  evil  and  distress. 

A  kingdom  was  necessary  as  a  rallying  force,  an 
organizing  sphere,  and  a  training  field  for  those  who 
accepted  the  truths  of  the  Mediator.  Organized 
therein,  the  people  would  become  an  army  of  right- 
eousness, controlled  by  the  powers  of  heaven,  and  led 
to  peaceful  conquests.  Without  it,  they  would  be  at 
best  but  a  benevolent  mob,  without  initiative  or  guid- 
ance, helpless  in  the  storms  of  persecution  which 
they  would  have  to  face.  Connecting  earth-efforts 
with  heaven's  power  and  guidance  would  make  fail- 
ure impossible.  Rome's  power,  the  world's  wicked- 
ness, the  entrenched  and  tyrannical  "system"— all 
these  stood  against  the  feeble  beginnings  of  the  king- 
dom; but  the  Cause  was  in  the  hands  of  Him  who 
holds  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  swings  the  stars  in  their 
courses,  and  controls  the  whole  universe  in  its  onward 
sweep  through  the  eternities! 

Jesus    also   internationalised   His   kingdom.      His 
teaching  is  of  a  universal  nature.    It  shows  such  an 


108         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

utter  disregard  for  social  distinctions  that  wherever 
the  Gospel  has  been  preached  changes  amounting  to  a 
religious  evolution,  if  not  revolution,  have  been  noted. 
"  The  field  is  the  world."  His  followers  are  to  be  the 
light  of  the  world  and  the  salt  of  the  earth.  The 
"  Great  Commission "  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
whole  world  shows  that  the  entire  human  race  is  to 
become  subject  to  the  salting  and  enlightening  in- 
fluences. Where,  then,  will  be  the  possibility  of 
war? 

Jesus  was  more  than  a  patriotic  Jew,  seeking  to 
make  His  nation  righteous  and  then  prosperous:  He 
is  a  World  Character,  a  true  Son  of  Man,  a  real 
Mediator,  the  reign  of  whose  kingdom  will  estab- 
lish universal  peace  and  industrial  prosperity. 

Our  ethical  principles  are  the  outgrowth  of  our 
conception  of  His  kingdom.  The  kingdom  ideal  con- 
tains the  revolutionizing  forces  of  humanity.  These 
are  not  merely  coextensive  with  the  Church,  or  the 
churches,  but  may  be  made  to  extend  far  beyond. 
Kept  to  the  forefront,  they  will  sweetly  revolutionize 
business,  industry  and  statecraft. 

The  kingdom  ideal  brings  to  us  the  Fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man — not  on  a  low, 
earthly  basis,  but  in  the  highest  spiritual  sense.  This 
means  cooperation  one  with  another,  and  the  accept- 
ance of  guidance  from  the  great  Father  above.  In 
the  realm  of  industry  there  will  always  be  some  fric- 
tion; but  this  friction  will  be  reduced  to  its  lowest 
terms  by  the  oil  of  human  kindness,  distilled  in  human 
hearts  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 


THE  KINGDOM  THE  FIELD  AND  FOECE    109 

In  the  economic  meaning  of  the  kingdom  we  have 
a  vision  of  the  support  of  the  Mediator's  power  and 
wisdom,  and  sweetest  of  all  a  vision  of  the  spirit  of 
love  one  to  another,  and  to  the  heavenly  Father, 
which  in  the  end  must  banish  cruelty  and  suffering, 
oppression  and  exploitation,  from  the  earth.  It  not 
only  gives  self-respect  to  the  individual,  but  it  brings 
back  the  prodigal  to  his  Father's  house  and  makes  of 
him  an  heir  of  heaven. 

The  cultivation  of  the  spiritual  faculty  is  the  great 
prophetic  essential  which  will  make  real  the  possibili- 
ties of  this  kingdom.  To  quote  James  Freeman 
Clarke: 

"  The  more  we  exercise  the  spiritual  faculty,  the  more 
certain  do  spiritual  things  become.  He  who  habitually 
obeys  conscience  sees,  more  and  more  clearly,  the  eternal 
distinction  between  right  and  wrong.  He  who  habitually 
disobeys  conscience  at  last  can  hardly  discern  any  law  of 
duty.  To  him  who  constantly  looks  forward  with  trust 
to  a  future  life,  immortality  becomes  more  and  more  cer- 
tain. The  pure  in  heart,  who  habitually  look  up  to  a 
heavenly  ideal  of  goodness,  see  God  more  and  more.  He 
who  trusts  in  Providence  comes  at  last  to  stand  so  firmly 
on  that  rock  that  no  doubt  can  disturb,  no  disappointment 
shake,  his  confidence  that  all  things  are  working  together 
for  ultimate  good." 


IX 

DEAD  MEN  WIN  NO  VICTORIES  IN 
HIS  KINGDOM 

"  Either  make  the  tree  good,  and  its  fruit  good ;  or 
make  the  tree  corrupt  and  its  fruit  corrupt:  for  the  tree 
is  known  by  its  fruit." 

"  The  good  man  out  of  his  good  treasure  bringeth 
forth  good  things:  and  the  evil  man  out  of  his  evil 
treasure  bringeth  forth  evil  things." — Matthew  12:33, 
35- 

SOME  of  the  mental  and  moral  qualities  essen- 
tial to  the  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  God  have 
been  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  We 
have  seen  that  the  Mediator  released  the  love  of  God, 
and  implanted  it  in  human  hearts,  making  it  the 
strongest  force  in  the  world.  He  has  shown  not  only 
what  love  can  do  for  men,  but  what  it  can  enable 
them  to  do  for  others.  The  present  chapter,  how- 
ever, treats  of  a  still  more  vital  quality — namely,  life 
itself.  To  stock  an  aquarium  with  dead  fish  would 
be  no  more  unwise  than  to  people  a  kingdom  with 
dead  folks.  The  inhabitants  of  the  cemeteries  are 
orderly,  and  their  memories  are  sacred,  but  they  are 
gaining  no  victories. 

It  is  quite  possible  for  active  people,  alive  in  the 
flesh,  to  be  dead  to  spiritual  qualities.  Death  does 
not  mean  annihilation.  The  literal  death  of  the  body 
is  not  that.    It  returns  to  dust,  becomes  disorganized, 

no 


DEAD  MEN  WIN  NO  VICTORIES  111 

but  its  atoms  continue  to  exist.  Matter  is  indestructi- 
ble: it  simply  changes  form.  The  belief  in  the  im- 
mortality of  the  human  soul  is  so  deep-seated  and 
universal  that  few  folks  can  believe  that  death  means 
the  annihilation  of  the  soul.  The  real  meaning  of 
death  is  separation.  "  The  places  that  once  knew  a 
man  know  him  no  more,"  as  death  separates  him  from 
them.  The  soul  is  separated  from  the  body  in  death. 
The  unrighteous  are  dead  to  holiness,  because  they 
are  separated  from  God.  Eternal  death  is  to  be  for- 
ever separated  from  Him.  "  Dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins  "  is  the  effect  of  our  being  separated  from  the 
Divine  Being,  rather  than  the  cause  of  it:  that  is 
found  in  a  perverse  and  selfish  will.  "  Ye  will  not 
come  unto  men  that  ye  might  have  life,"  said  Jesus. 

While  living  in  the  flesh,  men  may  be  so  separated 
from  the  vital  things  of  life  as  to  be  dead  to  them. 
There  are  good  men  and  women  alive  to  the  demands 
of  art,  education,  missions,  benevolence  and  culture, 
who  are  dead  to  the  demands  of  industrial  justice  and 
sound  business  ethics.  Wisely  has  the  Mediator 
planned  that  the  citizens  of  His  kingdom  shall  be 
alive  to  its  interests,  and  in  active  sympathy  with  its 
principles. 

We  have  been  zealous  in  our  efforts  to  carry  the 
Gospel  to  the  entire  world.  Now  we  are  coming  to 
understand  its  intensive  pervasiveness,  and  are  awak- 
ening to  the  demand  that  it  be  applied  to  every  de- 
partment of  life.  It  is  only  the  ethically  experimental 
type  of  religion,  born  from  above,  that  enables  men 
to  apply  the  teaching  of  Jesus  to  store,  and  office,  and 


112         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

shop,  and  home,  to  society  and  finance,  making  Him 
Mediator  in  these  realms.  The  narrow  view  that  one 
individual,  or  class,  can  be  permanently  benefited  by 
the  exploitation  and  misfortune  of  another  has  to  give 
place  to  an  infinitely  larger  conception. 

In  his  downy  cocoon,  the  latent  butterfly  sleeps  the 
long  winter  away,  possessing  only  possibilities.  The 
warm  sun  and  genial  breezes  awaken  his  activities; 
the  bondage  is  burst  and  a  new  world  is  revealed, 
power  to  flit  from  bush  to  branch  and  sip  nectar  from 
a  thousand  fragrant  flowers  is  possessed.  To  the 
man  cocooned  in  selfishness,  dead  to  his  surroundings, 
except  in  his  own  narrow  sphere,  the  awakening  in- 
fluences of  a  new  kingdom  and  a  higher  life  were 
destined  to  snap  the  fetters  and  bring  him  into  touch 
with  an  environment  reaching  outward  to  all  the 
world  and  upward  to  the  Father's  throne.  It  was 
such  a  sense  of  sonship  and  wideness  of  sympathy 
that  Jesus  sought  to  awaken. 

There  is  a  recognized  economic  side  to  the  great, 
fundamental  doctrine  of  regeneration.  A  writer  who 
voices  the  superficial  sentiment  of  labour,  rather  than 
its  religion,  says: 

"  There  has  come  about  an  unhappy  situation — indus- 
trialism and  religion  have  divorced  from  each  other. 
They  were  meant  to  be  mates.  Industrialism  needs  the 
spiritual  note,  to  impart  to  it  conscience,  zest,  imagina- 
tion— the  qualities  which  make  handicraftsmen  into  art- 
ists. Religions  need  likewise  the  industrial  note,  to  give 
to  its  airy  visions  a  body  and  local  habitation,  lest  its 
dreamings,  vague  and  vapourish,  become  sickly  fermenta- 


DEAD  MEN  WIN  NO  VICTORIES  113 

tions  of  the  brain.  But  a  rupture  in  the  marital  relation 
of  these  two  has  taken  place.  Meant  for  each  other, 
each  incomplete  without  the  other,  they  have  got  into  a 
state  of  mutual  incompatibility.  In  place  of  confidence, 
there  is  distrust,  coldness,  crimination.  There  is  being 
taken  out  between  them  a  bill  of  divorcement." — White. 

If  it  be  true  that  religion  and  industrialism  were 
meant  for  each  other,  and  that  each  is  incomplete 
without  the  other,  and  if  by  religion  we  are  to  under- 
stand the  Christian  religion,  then  we  perceive  that 
there  must  be  an  economic  meaning  to  regeneration. 
It  is  the  starting  point  of  Christianity,  the  door  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  It  awakens  a  new  nature  and 
transforms  the  commonplace  into  the  ideal.  That 
which  is  but  dull  drudgery  to  the  deadened  heart, 
wherein  the  fires  of  an  enthusiasm  born  of  the  divine 
touch  have  never  glowed,  it  turns  into  the  artistic. 
Thus  inventive  genius  leaps  into  being.  What  great 
inventions  have  been  given  the  world  by  people  who 
know  not  the  Gospel,  and  what  triumphs  of  science 
are  there  in  lands  whose  inhabitants  have  not  been 
touched  by  the  regenerating  influence  of  divine  love? 
This  fact  should  be  sufficient  to  prove  the  intimate  re- 
lations between  Christianity  and  economic  welfare. 

Dead  men  not  only  win  no  victories,  but  they  erect 
no  buildings,  construct  no  civilizations  and  devise  no 
system  of  relief  for  the  distressed.  Those  who  are 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  are  just  as  hopelessly  cut 
off  from  any  participation  in  a  reconstruction  of  in- 
dustrialism. "  A  live  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion," 
for  life  brings  possibilities. 


114         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOB 

The  Mediator  introduced  into  human  life,  as  a  part 
of  His  code  for  human  welfare,  the  great  underlying 
principle  of  vicarious  sacrifice:  of  one  person  suffer- 
ing, and  doing,  for  another.  This  is  an  underlying 
element  in  social  welfare.  Without  it,  no  permanent 
improvement  is  possible  in  the  social  and  industrial 
world.  Workmen  have  to  learn  to  "  bear  one  an- 
other's burdens,"  while  caring  for  the  things  of  their 
employers.  Those  in  positions  of  authority  have  to 
learn  that  they  must  care  for  the  workman's  welfare, 
as  well  as  for  the  company's  dividends,  or  their  own 
positions.  "  Otherism  "  needs  to  be  woven  into  the 
social,  industrial  and  business  fabrics.  Altruism 
makes  a  worth-while  life  possible,  but  the  true  altru- 
istic spirit  comes  only  through  the  new  birth  that 
makes  one  alive  to  righteousness. 

Men  crushed  by  slavery  and  oppression  had  be- 
come dead  to  all  expectation  of  freedom  and  a  bet- 
ter life.  They  said,  "  Leave  us  alone  in  our  bondage ; 
why  add  to  the  weight  of  our  fetters  ?  "  False  hopes 
and  mistaken  conceptions  had  deadened  the  people  of 
Jesus'  day  to  their  temporal  and  spiritual  opportuni- 
ties. They  were  held  in  a  religious,  ritualistic  and 
economic  bondage,  cursed  by  their  teachers  and 
cuffed  by  their  oppressors.  If  in  a  fitful  passion  they 
could  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Roman  oppression, 
gladly  would  they  accept  such  deliverance;  but  their 
regeneration  meant  more  than  warfare  with  carnal 
weapons,  and  without  this  renewal  better  conditions 
were  but  vague  dreams. 

In  Old  Testament  times,  the  renewal  of  the  heart 


DEAD  MEN  WIN  NO  VICTOEIES  115 

was  vitally  connected  with  temporal  prosperity. 
Hear  the  message  of  Ezekiel  as  to  the  condition  of 
heart  which  Jehovah  required: 

"A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit 
will  I  put  within  you;  and  I  will  take  away  the  stony 
heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of 
flesh.  And  I  will  put  my  spirit  within  you,  and  cause 
you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  mine  ordi- 
nances, and  do  them." 

Then  note  the  economic  blessings  and  temporal 
prosperity  that  should  follow: 

"And  ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to  your 
fathers;  and  ye  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  your 
God.  And  I  will  save  you  from  your  uncleanness;  and 
I  will  call  for  the  grain,  and  will  multiply  it,  and  lay  no 
famine  upon  you.  And  I  will  multiply  the  fruit  of  the 
tree,  and  the  increase  of  the  field,  that  ye  may  receive 
no  more  the  reproach  of  the  famine  among  the  nations. 
...  I  will  cause  the  cities  to  be  inhabited,  and  the 
waste  places  to  be  builded.  .  .  .  The  land  that  was 
desolate  shall  be  tilled.  And  they  shall  say,  *  This  land 
that  was  desolate  is  become  like  the  garden  of  Eden; 
and  the  waste  and  desolate  and  ruined  cities  are  fortified 
and  inhabited.' " 

In  the  New  Testament,  Jesus  made  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  the  culmination  of  the  kingdom  idea  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  added  to  it  a  spiritual  significance 
unknown  in  the  earlier  writings.  Nicodemus  was 
told  that  without  regeneration  one  could  not  even  see 
this  kingdom.  He  was  a  wise  ruler,  possibly  one  of 
the  best  of  his  day ;  but  his  inability  to  understand  the 


116  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

meaning  of  Jesus'  words  proved  that  he  could  not  see 
the  kingdom.  His  manner  of  thought,  and  tenor  of 
life,  were  so  foreign  to  the  principles  of  the  new  king- 
dom that  even  its  phraseology  was  an  unknown 
tongue  to  him. 

The  word  "  see  "  of  course  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
understand.  Many  men  can  see  a  mountain  (or  a 
dollar)  who  cannot  see  a  conclusion,  or  fix  their  men- 
tal vision  on  an  opportunity.  Nicodemus  was  wise 
concerning  the  Mosaic  economy,  but  the  spiritual 
fibre  which  was  to  be  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  could  be  discerned  only  by  quickened 
spiritual  vision.  This  quickening  came  from  above, 
and  linked  the  individual  with  the  power  and  intelli- 
gence of  heaven. 

One  may  be  born  a  citizen  of  a  worldly  kingdom, 
but  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  it 
is  necessary — not  to  take  out  naturalization  papers  on 
the  basis  of  moral  reformation,  but — to  be  "  born 
again."  The  truths  of  the  kingdom,  when  received 
into  good  and  honest  hearts,  produce  such  a  breaking 
up  of  the  old  incrustations  of  guilt,  prejudice,  sinful 
habits  and  wrong  methods  of  thinking  that  a  new 
mind  is  given  the  individual.  It  further  produces  a 
conviction  that  leads  to  new  methods  of  life,  and 
such  a  complete  revolution  in  the  things  that  one 
loves,  that  a  new  affectional  nature  is  awakened.  It 
makes  one  "  a  new  creature,"  with  new  aims  and  de- 
sires, new  powers  of  love,  and  new  channels  of  ac- 
tivity through  which  love  may  find  its  outflow.  New 
relationships    are    seen    and    old    conditions    present 


DEAD  MEN  WIN  NO  VICTOEIES  117 

themselves  in  a  new  light.  In  their  associations  with 
Him,  Jesus'  disciples  found  a  marvellous  power  in 
His  words  to  inspire  a  new  life.  James  says,  "  Of 
his  own  will  he  brought  us  forth  by  the  word  of 
truth."  Peter  says,  "  Having  been  begotten  again 
.  .  .  through  the  word  of  God."  Jesus  said,  "  I 
came  that  they  may  have  life,  and  that  they  may 
have  it  abundantly."  This  means  an  overflowing  life, 
one  that  would  outflow  into  every  phase  and  depart- 
ment of  human  effort,  and  bring  folks  into  closest 
sympathy  with  the  plans  of  a  Mediator. 

The  individual  is  the  unit  with  which  Jesus  deals 
in  the  preparation  of  citizens  for  His  kingdom.  His 
purpose  is  to  better  the  temporal,  as  well  as  the  spiri- 
tual, condition  of  mankind.  The  emphasis  is  to  be 
put  upon  the  well-being  of  the  whole  man.  Dr. 
Shailer  Mathews  has  well  said: 

"  To  give  larger  wages,  to  make  the  home  more  com- 
fortable and  happy,  to  see  that  sanitary  arrangements  of 
city  and  community  are  perfect,  to  provide  a  fair  in- 
come, healthful  food,  good  amusements  and  all  the  other 
requirements  of  respectable  life  to-day;  to  do  this  and 
let  evolution  do  the  rest — this  is  the  position  of  more 
than  one  social  teacher. 

"  But  the  imperfection  that  must  needs  be  corrected, 
in  the  estimation  of  Jesus,  was  no  chance  of  birth  or  oc- 
cupation of  life.  The  Pharisee  was  quite  as  ill  as  the 
harlot  and  publican.  The  cause  of  all  inequality  and 
lack  of  fraternity  is  moral :  it  is  sin.  Men  cannot  reach 
that  divine  sonship  in  which  fraternal  love  becomes 
natural  so  long  as  the  spirit  of  selfishness  rules  them. 
A  corrupt  tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit.  The 
world  can  become  the  kingdom  only  by  a  repentance  and 


118  JESUS  AX  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

a  moral  change  on  the  part  of  its  members  that  replaces 
the  spirit  of  revolt  against  goodness,  and  a  loving  God, 
with  the  spirit  of  sonship. 

"And  Jesus  saw  aright.  A  perfect  society  cannot  be 
created  from  imperfect  people.  That  which  stands  in 
the  way  of  the  realization  of  many  a  man's  ideal  for  so- 
cietv  has  not  been  its  own  logical  inconsistency,  but  its 
failure  to  find  or  produce  the  right  sort  of  men  upon 
which  to  work.  The  plan  of  the  house  called  for  mar- 
ble and  the  only  material  at  hand  was  mud.  Jesus  pro- 
posed to  furnish  good  material  as  well  as  a  noble  plan." 

The  regeneration  of  the  individual  is  the  starting 
point  in  the  preparation  of  this  material.  Mere  god- 
less social  intercourse  can  never  make  society  good, 
and  society  from  which  cruelty,  oppression  and  in- 
justice have  been  driven  is  essential  to  any  permanent 
betterment  of  our  temporal  conditions.  The  tempo- 
ral good  that  comes  with  the  advancement  of  civiliza- 
tion doesn't  make  men  fraternal :  usually  it  widens  the 
breach.  In  the  case  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  an  income 
that  enabled  Dives  to  be  clothed  in  purple  and  fine 
linen  and  fare  sumptuously  every  day,  gave  him  no 
compassion  for  the  man  that  lay  with  the  dogs  at  his 
door.  The  kingdom  of  God  grows  not  by  accumula- 
tion, but  by  assimilation;  hence  only  that  which  can 
be  assimilated  can  find  a  place  therein.  That  which 
is  destined  to  produce  a  permanent  social  regenera- 
tion is  the  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ  not  alone  as  a 
personal  Saviour,  but  a  further  choice  of  Him  as  Me- 
diator in  all  human  relationships.  This  would  insure 
industrial  and  social  justice  and  kindliness,  as  well  as 
the  hope  of  heaven.    This  type  of  disciple  would  truly 


DEAD  MEN  WIN  NO  VICTORIES  119 

be  as  "  the  good  man  out  of  his  good  treasure  "  who 
H  bringeth  forth  good  things  " — as  the  "  good  tree 
that  bringeth  forth  good  fruit." 

Jesus'  plan  is  to  save  the  masses  through  the  indi- 
vidual, and  not  the  individual  through  the  masses. 
Men  made  Christlike  make  good  society  and  bring 
about  right  economic  conditions.  Morally,  Socrates 
and  the  ascetics  were  good  men;  but  they  were  not 
good  for  social  intercourse,  for  trade,  or  for  alleviat- 
ing the  condition  of  the  unfortunate.  It  is  not 
enough  to  be  good:  one  must  be  good  for  something. 
Jesus'  fundamental  position  is  that  economic  better- 
ment depends  upon  goodness  that  is  active:  that  one 
spontaneously  loses  one's  selfish  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  other  lives,  and  thereby  finds  the  truest  and 
highest  life.  "  Whosoever  would  save  his  life  shall 
lose  it;  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake, 
the  same  shall  save  it." 

In  making  this  demand,  Jesus  shows  the  high 
worth  of  human  beings.  With  Him,  life  was  more 
than  meat,  and  man  infinitely  better  than  a  sheep — or 
any  number  of  sheep — because  he  possesses  a  human 
soul  of  infinite  possibilities.  He  invited  the  poor  and 
degraded,  because  He  believed  in  the  inherent  worth 
of  human  nature.  He  put  value  on  humanity:  not  on 
its  clothing  or  position.  He  treated  mankind  as  sin- 
ful, but  recoverable,  and  showed  that  the  depraved 
possess  that  which  responds  to  divine  influences. 

Renan  taught  that  the  aim  of  Christianity  is  not  the 
perfecting  of  society,  but  the  preparation  for  another 
world.     Jesus  shows  that  humanity  is  too  great  to  be 


120         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

confined  to  one  world:  that  personality  projects  itself 
into  eternity,  anchoring  to  the  very  throne  of  God, 
and  bringing  therefrom  the  power  and  principles 
needed  to  transform  this  old,  sin-oppressed  earth. 

Even  with  His  high  value  on  humanity,  Jesus  did 
not  present  flattering  views  of  its  condition.  The  de- 
praved were  invited,  but  they  were  not  petted.  In 
His  parables  of  the  Lost  Sheep,  the  Lost  Coin  and  the 
Lost  Son,  He  pictures  human  nature  as  lost;  but  He 
believed  it  recoverable  through  right  efforts,  hence 
He  saw  the  harvest  awaiting  the  reapers.  He  was 
always  impartial  and  sympathetic.  Conditions  were 
hard  and  labourers  were  few,  because  the  Jewish 
leaders  were  neglecting  the  masses.  In  His  prayer 
that  labourers  be  sent  into  the  field,  we  feel  the  heart- 
throbs of  the  Master,  as  He  longs  for  the  cooperation 
of  those  who  have  experienced  the  change  of  heart 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  sympathize  with  His  mis- 
sion, receive  Him  as  their  Mediator  and  join  the 
forces  of  righteousness.  It  was  not  for  ritualistic 
workers  that  He  longed:  there  were  plenty  of  them. 
There  were  priests  and  Levites  in  abundance  in  Jeru- 
salem; but  they  were  sodden  in  selfishness,  which  is 
the  root  of  all  sin.  When  selfishness  enters  the 
sphere  of  religion,  it  marks  one  as  the  farthest  re- 
moved from  God.  These  were  inhumanly  religious, 
socially  corrupt  and  economically  reprehensible.  The 
common  people  were  impressible,  and  through  them 
the  work  of  economic  and  spiritual  regeneration  be- 
gan. 

To-day,  Jesus  doesn't  work  miracles  to   feed  the 


DEAD  MEN  WIN  NO  VICTORIES  121 

poor,  but  His  regenerating  power  imparts  new  con- 
sciences to  those  who  make  laws,  manage  mills  and 
conduct  business.  It  is  only  the  regenerated  soul  that 
can  "  love  the  Lord  with  all  the  heart  and  soul  and 
strength,  and  one's  neighbour  as  oneself."  When 
God  and  man  are  thus  loved,  one  will  not  oppress  men 
in  industry,  or  defraud  in  business.  Employers  will 
pay  the  best  possible  wage  and  workers  will  do  the 
best  possible  work.  When  perplexities  arise,  the 
question  will  be,  "  What  saith  the  Mediator  ?  " 

The  importance  of  right  conditions  of  the  heart  to 
secure  industrial  well-being  may  be  further  seen  in 
the  fact  that  in  most  instances  one  man  controls  many 
men,  but  his  heart  controls  him:  for,  "as  a  man 
thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he."  In  the  great  railway 
systems,  factories  and  business  concerns,  some  man's 
heart  away  back  in  the  offices  is  dictating  the  policies. 
Selfishness  there  can  kill  any  movement  for  human 
betterment,  hence  the  wisdom  of  the  Mediator  in  be- 
ginning with  the  heart. 

In  God's  plan  of  the  ages,  which  He  is  steadily 
working  out,  He  is  using  men  and  women  to  the  full- 
est extent  to  which  they  will  permit  themselves  to 
become  the  unselfish  channels  of  His  blessings  to 
mankind.  To  be  made  alive  to  the  interests  of  His 
kingdom  is  essential  to  such  use.  It  is  the  new  life, 
generated  by  faith  in  the  Life  Giver,  that  accepts  His 
teaching  as  the  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  of  creed  and 
conduct,  and  thus  enthrones  Him  as  Mediator,  say- 
ing, "  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done." 


X 

EQUALITY  IN  CODE  AND  CONDUCT 

"And  he  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  to  dwell  on 
all  the  face  of  the  earth." — Acts  if:  26. 

"  All  ye  are  brethren." — Matthew  23:8. 

THE  question  of  the  equality  of  human  rights 
and  privileges  was  never  more  in  the  fore- 
front than  at  present.  Does  the  State  have 
the  right  to  compel  men  to  work  in  time  of  peace,  as 
it  has  to  force  them  to  bear  arms  in  time  of  war? 
Do  government  employees  have  the  same  right  to 
strike  that  is  granted  those  who  are  employed  by  firms 
and  individuals?  Do  any  employers  have  the  right 
to  compel  men  to  work?  Do  labour  unions  possess 
such  rights?  On  the  other  hand,  do  unions,  or  any 
other  organizations,  have  a  right  to  forbid  men  to 
work?  Can  a  man  be  compelled  to  work,  or  not  to 
work,  without  violating  his  personality?  Compul- 
sory labour  would  be  near  akin  to  slavery,  but  what 
of  compulsory  idleness?  Can  men  be  coerced  to  stick 
to  a  job,  or  coerced  to  stay  away  from  it,  without  vio- 
lating the  natural  rights  of  the  individual?  What 
principles  do  we  find  in  the  code  of  Jesus  that  would 
help  to  solve  such  present-day  problems  as'  these  ? 


EQUALITY  IN  CODE  AND  CONDUCT       123 

The  notion  that  the  rank  and  file  of  men  and 
women  are  born  to  serve  the  privileged  class,  or  or- 
ganizations effected  by  any  class,  and  that  they  are  to 
be  driven  with  whip  and  spurs,  finds  no  support  in  the 
teaching  of  the  Mediator.  Two  of  His  utterances 
will  be  sufficient  to  show  His  attitude: 

"  Ye  know  that  the  rulers  of  the  Gentiles  lord  it  over 
them,  and  their  great  ones  exercise  authority  over  them. 
Not  so  shall  it  be  among  you:  but  whosoever  would  be- 
come great  among  you  shall  be  your  minister ;  and  who- 
soever would  be  first  among  you  shall  be  your  servant: 
even  as  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 
— Mattheiv  20: 25-28. 

"  Be  ye  not  called  Rabbi :  for  one  is  your  teacher  and 
all  ye  are  brethren.  And  call  no  man  your  father  on 
earth :  for  one  is  your  Father,  even  he  who  is  in  heaven. 
Neither  be  ye  called  masters:  for  one  is  your  master, 
even  Christ.  But  he  that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be 
your  servant." — Matthew  23: 8-1 1. 

Mark  and  Luke  also  give  these  sayings  of  His. 
Their  meaning  is  so  clear  that  comment  would  be  su- 
perfluous. Except  in  the  society  of  Jesus  and  His 
friends,  this  Gentile  ideal  was  world-wide.  Every- 
where men  sought  greatness,  that  they  might  rule  and 
have  others  minister  unto  them.  Rome  had  stamped 
upon  her  dependents  the  ideas  of  luxury,  of  slave 
service,  of  enrichment  at  the  expense  of  others. 
With  her,  the  great  were  those  who  were  served  by 
others,  and  he  was  esteemed  greatest  who  had  most  to 
serve  him.     How  different  with  Jesus!     The  heir  of 


124         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

all  things  emptied  Himself  and  came  among  His 
brethren  as  one  who  serves.  What  a  splendid  ex- 
ample ! 

The  Old  Testament  ideal  of  human  equality — not 
of  endowment,  but  of  privilege  and  opportunity — 
formed  a  background  and  setting  for  the  teaching  of 
Jesus.  Job  shows  the  belief  that  prevailed  that  Je- 
hovah is  the  maker  and  keeper  of  all,  and  that  a  serv- 
ant could  not  be  oppressed  without  an  account  being 
rendered  unto  the  Lord.  The  thirty-third  Psalm  de- 
clares that  God  "  fashioneth  their  hearts  alike:  he 
considereth  all  their  works."  It  had  passed  into  a 
proverb  among  the  Hebrew  people  that  "  the  rich  and 
the  poor  meet  together;  the  Lord  is  the  maker  of 
them  all." 

The  equality  which  was  taught  by  the  Mediator, 
and  which  has  become  the  basis  of  American  democ- 
racy, will  be  seen  most  vividly  in  the  manner  in  which 
He  recognized  all  classes.  The  rich  and  powerful 
were  already  highly  valued,  but  Jesus  recognized  the 
rights  of  the  poor.  They  represented  man  stripped 
of  all  extrinsic  attributes  of  honour,  and  reduced  to 
that  which  is  common  to  all  mankind.  On  this  naked 
humanity,  the  world  never  set  a  very  high  value,  and 
perhaps  nowhere  in  the  world  was  there  a  wider 
chasm  between  the  classes  and  the  masses  than  had 
been  rapidly  developed  in  Judea  at  that  time.  Ac- 
cording to  the  tradition  of  the  scribes,  the  Am 
Haarez,  "  the  people  of  the  land,"  were  ostracized  in- 
dividuals, with  whom  no  dealings  were  .to  be  had. 
They  were  as  Samaritans  to  them.     They  were  even 


EQUALITY  IN  CODE  AND  CONDUCT       125 

excluded   from  sharing  in  the   resurrection.     These 
scribes  said  of  such  a  man: 

"  Bear  no  witness  for  him,  take  none  from  him,  re- 
veal to  him  no  secret,  entrust  nothing  to  his  charge, 
make  him  not  treasurer  of  monies  for  the  poor,  associate 
not  with  him  on  a  journey." — Weber. 

In  the  light  of  this  depreciation,  the  reason  for  the 
Mediator's  cleavage  with  the  "  powers  that  be  "  is 
seen  more  clearly.  He  insisted  upon  the  susceptibil- 
ity to  redemption  that  these  outcasts  possessed,  and 
believed  in  their  right  to  fair  treatment  and  an  equal 
chance  for  their  spiritual  and  economic  betterment. 
It  is  not  strange  that  they  should  hang  upon  His 
words,  follow  Him  from  place  to  place,  and  even 
want  to  make  him  King.  The  world  begins  to  value 
folks  only  when  they  are  clothed  with  some  outward 
distinction  of  birth,  or  wealth,  or  station.  Jesus  saw 
in  human  beings  the  life  of  a  spirit,  conversant  with 
divine  things,  and  said: 

"  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  to  gain  the  whole  world, 
and  lose  his  own  life?" 

The  "  life  "  or  "  soul  "  is  that  which  makes  human 
beings  different  from  "  things,"  and  gives  one  a  per- 
sonality which  is  inviolable.  For  the  preservation  of 
this  life,  the  lower  animal  life,  with  all  one's  material 
possessions,  might  well  be  sacrificed. 

The  interest  which  Jesus  took  in  the  depraved 
further  indicates  His  belief  in  human  equality.  He 
valued  humanity  not  only  when  it  was  stripped  of 


126         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

worldly  goods,  but  even  when  destitute  of  worthy 
character.  In  His  view,  humanity  is  humanity, 
whether  rich  and  respectable  or  poor  and  devilish,  and 
is  entitled  to  honourable  treatment  and  a  fair  chance. 
He  was  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners,  because 
they  possessed  latent  spiritual  powers,  which  were  ca- 
pable of  regeneration  and  development.  Moreover, 
in  His  view,  they  possessed  the  solemn  responsibilities 
of  moral  agents,  and  retained  features  of  the  divine 
image,  not  entirely  effaced.  These  features  were 
capable  of  restoration.  The  world  of  culture  de- 
spaired of  them,  but  He  hoped  for  them,  and  went 
after  them  as  a  shepherd  after  his  sheep.  He  sought 
their  healing,  as  a  true  Physician  of  Souls. 

Jesus  was  conscious  of  the  imperfections  of  men, 
and  saw  them  making  grave  departures  from  moral 
ideals.  This  He  set  forth  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
Luke,  where  He  compares  them  to  wandering  sheep, 
lost  coins  and  prodigal  sons.  He  had  more  than  a 
sentimental  interest  in  folks.  He  knew  that  few  of 
them  realized  their  moral  responsibilities.  He  was 
under  no  illusion  as  to  the  moral  condition  of  man- 
kind, and  the  unworthiness  of  humanity  for  the  privi- 
leges to  which  He  daily  invited  men.  He  valued  hu- 
man nature  in  its  ideal,  but  did  not  take  flattering 
views  of  it.  In  human  lives  everywhere,  He  saw  the 
evidence  of  sin's  corrupting,  debasing  and  enslaving 
power.  Amid  it  all,  He  saw  capabilities  of  redemp- 
tion, and  valued  folks  for  what  they  might  become, 
rather  than  for  what  they  were.  He  realized  the  de- 
mands of  justice  lying  deeper  than  social  distinctions 


EQUALITY  IN  CODE  AND  CONDUCT       127 

and  worldly  discriminations.  To  the  sinful,  the  de- 
praved, the  weak,  He  saw  the  need  of  an  equal  oppor- 
tunity and  a  fair  chance,  and  the  responsiveness  which 
such  a  "  square  deal "  would  awaken. 

Zaccheus,  for  instance,  was  a  man  of  large-hearted 
ability,  but  he  was  a  social  outcast  because  of  his  posi- 
tion as  a  tax-gatherer.  The  Mediator  received  him, 
became  a  self-invited  guest  in  his  home,  and  at  once  a 
reformation  began.  The  magnificent  offer  of  half 
his  goods  for  the  poor,  and  to  restore  four-fold  any 
ill-gotten  gains  that  he  possessed,  mark  his  conversion 
as  sincere,  and  show  the  unseen  possibilities  wrapped 
in  some  social  outcasts.  Mediatorily,  Jesus  gave 
brotherly  recognition  to  sincere  folks,  regardless  of 
social  position,  until  it  was  said  of  Him,  "  He  receiv- 
eth  sinners,  and  eateth  with  them." 

He  had  compassion  on  the  multitude.  In  defend- 
ing Himself  against  the  attacks  made  upon  Him  for 
His  sympathy  with  social  reprobates,  He  gave  the 
parable  of  the  Two  Debtors  (Luke  7:  36-50),  in 
which  He  showed  that  those  who  are  forgiven  most 
will  love  most,  and  consequently  will  be  most  closely 
attached  to  Him,  and  to  the  interests  of  His  kingdom. 
The  oppressed,  who  had  been  without  an  equal 
chance,  ought  to  be  the  ones  who  would  most  appreci- 
ate it  when  given.  Those  accustomed  to  it  continue 
to  take  it  as  a  matter  of  course. 

One  of  the  difficult  lessons  to  learn  is  that  equality 
of  privilege  and  opportunity  does  not  necessarily 
mean  equality  of  ability  to  improve  the  privilege  and 
measure  up  to  the  opportunity.     Opportunity  to  earn 


128         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

is  not  always  coupled  with  the  strength  and  skill  that 
bring  high  earning  power.  That  Jesus  recognized 
this  fact  is  seen  in  the  parable  of  the  Talents  (Matt. 
25:  14r-30)  where  the  master  gave  to  one  five  talents, 
to  another  two,  and  to  another  one ;  "  to  each  accord- 
ing to  his  several  ability."  The  justness  of  the  dis- 
tribution is  seen  in  the  fact  that  in  the  accounting  he 
required  of  each  only  according  to  his  capital  and 
ability.  The  failure  of  the  one-talent  man  was  not 
due  to  the  fact  that  he  had  but  one  talent,  but  to  his 
failure  to  use  what  he  had.  In  the  parable  of  the 
Pounds  (Luke  19:12-27)  but  three  of  the  ten 
pounds  given  out  are  accounted  for ;  and  yet,  in  these 
we  see  the  same  law  of  ability  recognized,  and  the 
same  penalty  for  dolessness  meted  out.  It  is  a 
further  illustration  of  equality  of  opportunity,  but 
differences  in  ability,  even  with  the  same  capital. 
Here  each  one  received  a  pound.  One  made  ten 
pounds,  another  nothing,  and  consequently  lost  the 
pound  which  he  had.  Duplication  may  be  seen  in  the 
economic  world  to-day.  It  is  a  law  of  being  that  that 
which  is  not  used  is  lost. 

Among  the  equality  of  rights  which  the  code  of 
Jesus  demands  for  the  individual  may  be  enumerated 
the  right  of  enjoyment  of  life  and  liberty;  the  pursuit 
of  happiness;  protection  that  brings  safety  to  himself 
and  family;  an  equal  chance  with  others  in  the  acqui- 
sition and  possession  of  property.  The  average  man 
is  more  concerned  about  the  democratization  of  privi- 
leges than  he  is  about  standing  for  his  inherent  rights. 
Napoleon  said  that  the  Frenchmen  of  his,  day  wanted 


EQUALITY  IN  CODE  AND  CONDUCT       129 

liberty  less  than  equality.  It  would  not  be  strange  if 
this  were  true  to-day.  Society  organized  on  the  caste 
system  of  India,  or  the  feudal  system  of  Europe, 
presents  greater  inequalities  of  rights  than  can  be 
found  between  a  democracy  and  an  absolute  mon- 
archy. Equality  of  privileges,  therefore,  depends 
less  upon  the  form  of  government  than  upon  the  or- 
ganization of  society.  However,  the  Mediator  bases 
all  upon  the  value  of  human  beings  and  their  relation- 
ship to  God,  hence  liberty  and  equality  are  coexten- 
sive in  His  code. 

Internationally,  the  world  is  coming  to  Jesus'  ideal 
of  human  equality.  This  is  seen  in  the  growing  sen- 
timent favouring  the  self-determination  of  weaker 
peoples,  and  the  respect  for  small  nations.  As  human 
equals,  these  people  cannot  justly  be  enslaved,  an- 
nexed, or  dominated  by  force.  With  due  regard  for 
international  courtesies,  they  have  an  inherent  right 
to  choose  their  own  form  of  government,  and  to  align 
themselves  with  stronger  nations,  if  they  so  desire; 
but  treaties  made  with  them  are  not  "  scraps  of 
paper,"  even  though  it  may  require  a  World  War  to 
convince  imperialism  of  that  fact. 

Industrially,  there  are  many  movements  toward 
His  ideal.  All  parties  concerned  are  awakening  to 
the  fact  that  the  labour  problem  can  never  be  solved 
by  espionage  or  paternalism.  Employers  are  becom- 
ing more  than  willing — even  anxious — to  deal  with 
conditions  that  apply  equally  to  employer  and  em- 
ployee. A  writer  who  recently  completed  a  study  of 
industrial  conditions  in  twenty  American  cities,  says 


130         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOB 

that  he  found  employers  more  willing  to  treat  with 
employees  than  were  the  latter  to  meet  the  employers. 
It  would  be  most  unfortunate  if  a  growing  sentiment 
toward  conciliation  on  part  of  employers  should  be 
met  by  a  growing  radicalism  on  part  of  employees. 

The  "  Shop  Representative  Plan "  is  a  decided 
movement  toward  the  code  and  spirit  of  the  Media- 
tor, in  the  recognition  of  equality  of  rights  on  the  part 
of  employer  and  employee.  In  brief  outline,  the  plan 
which  is  often  spoken  of  as  "  The  Shop  Committee," 
is  as  follows: 

A  number  of  delegates,  elected  by  secret  ballot  in 
the  shop,  meet  with  a  like  number  of  representatives 
of  the  management  monthly,  or  semi-monthly,  and 
together  carefully  survey  the  situation  and  plan  for 
betterment.  The  employees  are  given  a  voice  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  their  employment,  and  working 
and  living  conditions.  The  principle  of  cooperation 
and  confidence  between  employers  and  employees  is 
maintained  by  affording  the  means  of  ready  access  to 
each  other's  representatives,  and  free  discussion  of 
differences  as  they  arise.  Thus  the  common  interests 
of  employers  and  employees  are  promoted  and  a 
higher  efficiency  attained.  They  discuss  every  phase 
of  shop  life  in  which  the  workers  are  involved.  Fan- 
cied grievances  are  explained  and  real  ones  remedied. 
The  director  of  one  of  the  largest  plants  in  a  Middle 
Western  State,  after  describing  the  system  and  its  re- 
sults, says: 

"As  nearly  as  we  can  sense  the  situation,  and  as  nearly 
as  we  can  place  a  dollar  and  cents  valuation  upon  such 


EQUALITY  IN  CODE  AND  CONDUCT       131 

things,  we  would  not  accept  to-day  two  million  dollars  in 
gold  as  a  consideration  for  returning  to  any  plan  or  con- 
dition which  has  ever  been  in  effect  in  our  shops  here- 
tofore." 

That  the  plan  is  satisfactory  to  labour,  and  is  a  fair 
expression  of  equality  of  opportunity,  further  appears 
in  a  statement  from  one  of  the  largest  street  railways 
in  America,  after  it  had  been  in  use  about  three  years: 

"We  have  never  had  labour  trouble,  and  went 
through  the  strenuous  war  period  with  a  clear  under- 
standing. The  committeemen  elected  by  the  men  take 
up  working  conditions,  questions  of  wages,  and  welfare 
features,  and  there  is  a  fine  spirit  of  cooperation  with 
the  company." 

These  citations  are  sufficient  to  show  the  drift  to- 
ward the  Mediator's  valuation  of  men,  and  also  to 
indicate  the  economic  value  of  His  code.  As  a 
money-making  proposition,  the  greatest  movement  in 
the  world  would  be  the  acceptance  of  the  full  code  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  exaltation  to  the  place  of  Medi- 
ator of  industrialism  and  internationalism.  It  is  en- 
couraging to  note  the  extent  to  which  cooperation  is 
becoming  the  plan  of  action.  The  equality  and  in- 
violable rights  of  each,  in  his  field  of  action,  are  com- 
ing to  be  recognized,  and  such  recognition  is  showing 
a  money  value  to  all  parties.  The  massing  of  capital, 
and  the  organization  of  labour,  with  saner  leadership 
year  by  year,  are  making  possible  an  industrialism 
that  individual  effort  never  could  operate — thanks  to 
Jesus'  estimate  of  man's  value. 

This  doctrine  of  Jesus  was  destined  to  destroy  hu- 


132         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOB 

man  slavery.  Nowhere  did  He  say,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
permit  slavery."  He  simply  touched  the  heart  of  hu- 
manity with  the  lesson  of  human  equality,  and  the 
sunshine  of  an  enlightened  conscience  has  driven  it 
away  from  the  earth,  as  a  mist  cloud.  So  has  ended 
the  saloon  system,  and  so  has  universal  suffrage  been 
ushered  in.  The  broad  principles  of  human  equality 
are  now  bearing  splendid  fruitage. 

This  truth  also  places  male  and  female  on  an  equal 
footing  socially.  It  leaves  no  room  for  a  double 
standard  of  social  purity.  When  the  unfortunate 
woman  was  brought  to  Jesus  that  He  might  order  her 
put  to  death,  He  acted  as  Mediator  in  the  case,  and 
said,  "  Let  him  that  is  innocent  cast  the  first  stone." 
In  other  words,  "  There  is  an  equality  of  obligation ; 
she  is  your  sister,  and  the  doctrine  of  human  equality 
cannot  hold  her  guilty  and  you  innocent." 

Does  it  not  apply  to  the  suffrages,  also?  Certainly 
it  does  to  matters  of  salary.  Why  should  a  woman 
be  obliged  to  do  for  ten  dollars  a  week  what  a  man 
would  receive  twenty  for  doing?  Why  should  a  girl 
batter  down  wages  by  doing  the  work  of  a  man  for 
less  than  he  receives,  later  marry  the  man  and  expect 
him  to  maintain  a  family  on  the  wage  that  she  helped 
to  lower?  A  recognition  of  human  equality  that 
would  demand  the  same  wage  for  the  same  work  chal- 
lenges the  attention  of  labour  organizations,  business 
men  and  manufacturers  everywhere. 

A  full  recognition  of  human  equality  would  make 
wide  readjustments  in  industrial  relations.  America 
has  no  caste  system  to  keep  the  worker  dbwn.     He 


EQUALITY  IN  CODE  AND  CONDUCT       133 

may  invent  and  plan,  devise  and  save,  until  instead  of 
a  workman  he  may  become  an  owner  or  partner  in  the 
business.  The  coming  industrial  democracy  will 
make  this  partnership  the  rule,  rather  than  the  excep- 
tion. The  doctrine  demands  an  equal  chance  for  all 
within  the  sphere  in  which  each  one  is  best  fitted  to 
operate.  It  is  not  meant  that  every  one  is  equally  en- 
dowed with  skill  and  ability.  It  simply  means  a  fair 
chance  for  the  worker  to  "  work  out  his  own  salva- 
tion," financially,  as  well  as  spiritually. 

To  secure  equal  rights  and  a  fair  start,  it  might  be 
necessary  to  inquire  into  the  readjustment  of  inherit- 
ances. One  is  born  heir  to  millions,  while  another  is 
handicapped  by  poverty  and  squalor.  Can  this  be 
forever  perpetuated,  and  still  maintain  human  equal- 
ity? The  old  Hebrew  remedy  was  the  Year  of  Jubi- 
lee, when  the  land  returned  to  the  heirs  of  its  original 
owners.  In  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  there  is  no  place 
for  such  readjustments  by  civil  law.  However,  the 
demand  is  made  upon  the  individual  to  give  of  his 
property  for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom.  Herein 
lies  the  remedy  for  swollen  fortunes,  and  the  means 
of  maintaining  an  equality.  The  rich  ruler  was  told 
to  sell  what  he  had  and  give  to  the  poor,  then  to  fol- 
low Jesus.  He  was  promised  treasure  in  heaven,  and 
the  kingdom  wisely  provides  for  the  exchange  that 
converts  the  currency  of  the  land  into  spiritual  treas- 
ure. Zaccheus  not  only  made  restitution  for  any  ill- 
gotten  gains,  but  gave  the  half  of  his  goods  to  feed 
the  poor.  Such  acts  are  necessary  to  keep  the  doer  in 
touch  with  the  common  people,  and  imbued  with  the 


134         JESUS  AH  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

spirit  of  heaven.  Men  are  coming  to  understand  that 
it  is  disgraceful  to  die  rich.  Here  we  see  not  only  a 
method  of  doing  good,  but  also  a  means  of  maintain- 
ing an  equality  of  privileges  and  an  even  start  in  earn- 
ing power. 

If  service  be  the  test  of  greatness,  it  naturally  fol- 
lows that  the  greatest  opportunity  is  not  the  chance  to 
accumulate  a  million  dollars,  or  any  other  sum.  It  is 
not  to  accumulate,  at  all:  it  is  to  serve.  Here  is  an 
underlying  law  of  the  kingdom  of  God — a  truth 
which  Jesus  exemplified  to  the  world. 

Equality  of  privilege  implies  equality  of  responsi- 
bility ;  hence  the  granting  of  this  equality  to  both  em- 
ployer and  employee  means  an  equal  share  in  the  re- 
sponsibility for  maintaining  peaceful  relations  with 
each  other,  and  a  high  standard  of  service  to  the  pub- 
lic. The  responsibility  cannot  be  shifted  without 
violating  moral  requirements.  The  spirit  of  the 
Mediator  would  make  each  willing  to  meet  the  other 
more  than  half-way  in  the  adjustment  of  differences, 
and  to  counsel  freely  for  the  improvement  in  output 
and  working  conditions. 

Equality  of  privileges  to  serve,  to  serve  with  one 
another,  to  serve  according  to  the  Mediator's  guid- 
ance, ought  to  bring  a  joy  indescribable  and  full  of 
glory.  Apply  this  to  capitalism,  to  industrialism — to 
every  line  of  human  effort — and  it  will  bring  to  hu- 
man hearts  a  thrill  of  the  divine,  and  to  this  old  earth 
a  glimpse  of  glory  from  above ! 


XI 
SIN,   SUFFERING  AND  WANT 

"  Now  there  were  some  present  at  that  very  season 
who  told  him  of  the  Galileans  whose  blood  Pilate  had 
mingled  with  their  sacrifices.  And  he  answered  and 
said  unto  them,  Think  ye  that  these  Galileans  were  sin- 
ners above  all  the  Galileans,  because  they  suffered  these 
things  ?  I  tell  you,  Nay :  but,  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall 
all  in  like  manner  perish.  Or  those  eighteen  upon 
whom  the  tower  in  Siloam  fell,  and  killed  them,  think 
ye  that  they  were  offenders  above  all  the  men  that  dwell 
in  Jerusalem?  I  tell  you,  Nay:  but,  except  ye  repent, 
ye  shall  all  in  like  manner  perish." — Luke  /j:  1-5. 

"  Sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  befall  thee." — John 
5-  H- 

CONSIDERING  the  equality  of  privileges 
which  Jesus  made  one  of  the  foundation 
principles  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  ques- 
tion naturally  arises,  Is  economic  want  the  result  of 
disobedience  to  these  principles;  or,  Is  there  a  relation 
between  sin  and  want?  Not  to  inquire  into  the  Me- 
diator's teaching  concerning  sin  would  be  to  miss  the 
mark  in  an  economic  investigation. 

Jesus  reversed  the  prevailing  Jewish  conception  of 
sin.  He  showed  that  it  belongs  not  simply  to  the  out- 
cast and  criminal,  but  to  all — even  to  the  scribe  and 
Pharisee.  Indeed,  the  privileged  class  who  preyed 
upon  the  helpless,  were  denounced  as  the  worst  of  alJ 

i35 


136         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

sinners.  In  the  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  He 
portrayed  the  awful  results  of  respectable,  self-satis- 
fied sin. 

He  showed  clearly  the  distinction  between  sin  and 
crime.  One  may  perish  because  of  sin,  and  yet  never 
be  guilty  of  crime.  One  may  go  to  Gehenna  without 
ever  having  gone  to  a  state  prison.  John  says,  "  Sin 
is  lawlessness."  The  lawlessness  of  the  Gospels  is 
born  of  selfishness  or  self-will.  It  is  a  state  of 
mind,  rather  than  a  combination  of  separate  acts. 
Men  look  for  "  sins,"  but  Jesus  treated  "  sin."  He 
treated  it  as  a  constitutional  disease — not  merely  an 
eruption  upon  the  surface.  Only  "  blood  cleansing  " 
can  produce  a  cure. 

Thoughtful  folks  admit  that  there  is  something 
confessedly  wrong  in  the  world,  and  in  human  nature. 
Too  many  things  are  at  cross  purposes.  There  is  too 
much  suffering.  Hardships  are  on  every  hand.  Who 
can  believe  that  it  is  the  will  of  our  heavenly  Father 
that  it  should  be  so,  when  He  has  done  everything  pos- 
sible for  our  happiness  and  welfare,  even  withholding 
not  His  own  Son  ?  This  world  stands  related  to  man's 
highest  thought  and  ideals,  but  there  is  something  in 
the  way  of  their  realization.  Jesus  treats  sin  as  the 
great  hindering  cause.  In  the  parable  of  the  Tares, 
for  instance,  it  was  the  bad  seed  that  injured  the 
growth  and  brought  disaster  to  the  harvest:  so  does 
sin  with  man's  most  cherished  hopes  and  plans. 

Sin  blinds  men  to  the  new  order  which  Jesus  would 
establish,  were  He  made  Mediator.  Nicodemus,  the 
wise  man  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin,  could  not  see  the 


SIN,  SUFFERING  AND  WANT  137 

kingdom  of  God.  Until  delivered  from  the  blinding 
blight  of  sin,  even  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  cannot 
be  understood. 

Sin  stands  in  the  way  of  the  kingdom  which  Jesus 
came  to  establish.  It  is  sin  that  hardens  men  to  gos- 
pel influences,  and  sinks  outcasts  into  criminals  and 
degenerates.  Sin  makes  those  in  power  more  relent- 
less. The  sin  of  covetousness  cries  out  for  Shylock's 
pound  of  flesh,  and  plies  the  lash  to  suffering  human- 
ity with  renewed  fury.  It  drives  the  burglar  and 
thief  to  pillage,  the  gambler  to  the  tricks  of  his  trade, 
and  the  profiteer  to  his  unscrupulous  methods,  while 
commercialized  vice  sinks  humanity  to  its  deepest  de- 
pravity, that  it  may  reap  the  tainted  shekels.  Is  it 
strange  that  Jesus  and  His  forerunner  should  call 
men  to  repentance  as  a  necessary  condition  to  the  in- 
coming of  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah?  However, 
they  refused  to  repent,  but  chose  rather  to  crucify 
Jesus  and  continue  their  pillage,  while  protected  by 
Rome.  The  soldiers  gambled  for  His  garments  while 
He  was  dying,  so  hardened  were  they  by  spoliation. 

While  Jesus  denounced  sin,  He  was  compassionate 
toward  sinners.  This  is  seen  in  His  attitude  toward 
publicans,  who,  being  Hebrew  tax-gatherers  for 
Rome,  were  regarded  as  the  worst  sinners  in  the  king- 
dom. However,  Jesus  preached  the  Gospel  to  them, 
and  when  they  were  converted  fellowshipped  them, 
choosing  some  of  them  to  places  in  the  apostolic  cir- 
cle. So  true  was  His  sympathy  for  the  sinner  that 
He  parolled  the  sinful  woman  on  condition  that  she 
would  sin  no  more. 


138         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

The  cleansing  of  the  temple  further  shows  His 
sympathy  for  those  who  seek  deliverance  from  sin. 
The  court  of  the  Greeks  was  occupied  with  the  imple- 
ments of  the  money  changers.  They  were  thus  pre- 
vented from  enjoying  their  privileges  in  the  worship 
of  God.  Fierce  was  His  denunciation  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  for  their  hypocrisy,  and  especially  for 
shutting  out  of  the  kingdom  those  who  would  enter. 
His  mission  was  to  "  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel."  He  "  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost."  So  sincere  and  all-consuming  was  His 
sympathy  for  sinners  that  He  shed  His  blood  for 
their  deliverance.  Calvary  marks  the  world's  highest 
sacrifice,  and  that  sacrifice  was  to  save  His  people 
from  their  sins. 

Jesus  treated  sin  as  the  cause  of  suffering.  To  the 
man  made  whole  at  Bethesda,  He  said,  "  Sin  no  more, 
lest  a  worse  thing  befall  thee."  We  do  not  know  that 
his  disease  was  the  result  of  any  particular  sin,  into 
which  he  was  in  danger  of  falling  again,  and  that 
would  cause  a  relapse  of  his  disease.  It  was  a  com- 
monly-received belief  among  the  Jews  that  special  sin 
brought  special  suffering.  This  was  the  doctrine  of 
Job's  comforters.  Jesus  did  not  teach  that  every  in- 
stance of  suffering  or  misfortune  was  the  direct  result 
of  some  special  sin.  When  His  disciples  asked  Him 
concerning  the  blind  man,  "  Who  did  sin ;  this  man  or 
his  parents,  that  he  should  be  born  blind  ?  "  Jesus' 
answer  indicated  that  they  were  not  to  undertake  to 
fix  the  definite  sin  that  caused  that  particular  suffer- 
ing.    Such  is  the  thought  concerning  the  murdered 


SIN,  STTFFEKING  AND  WANT  139 

Galileans  and  those  upon  whom  the  tower  in  Siloam 
fell.  Sin  is  a  violation  of  law,  and  laws  have  penal- 
ties; but  it  becomes  us  to  be  modest  in  attempting  to 
fix  the  connection  between  the  sin  and  its  penalty.  In 
His  miracles  of  healing,  Jesus  indicated  a  connection 
between  sin  and  want  by  forgiving  the  sin  and  em- 
phasizing the  need  of  forsaking  it.  The  purpose  of 
His  coming  into  the  world  was  to  save  His  people 
from  their  sins:  not  to  save  them  in  their  sins.  The 
reason  for  this  is  quite  apparent:  To  receive  what 
Jesus  came  to  impart,  it  is  necessary  to  get  into  line 
with  the  principles  of  His  kingdom — as  much  so  as 
for  the  inventor  to  work  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  nature,  and  not  contrary  to  them.  The  code  of  the 
Mediator  shows  that  righteousness  brings  better  op- 
portunities to  all. 

Jesus'  teaching  shows  that  unbelief  is  the  sin  of  all 
sins.  Without  belief  there  can  be  no  repentance,  and 
the  turning  which  repentance  brings  is  necessary  to 
escape  the  awful  consequences  of  sin.  If  Jesus' 
hearers  did  not  get  a  new  mind,  the  fate  of  those 
on  whom  the  tower  in  Siloam  fell,  and  those 
whose  blood  Pilate  mingled  with  their  sacrifices, 
would  be  the  fate  of  all  of  them.  As  a  na- 
tion, they  failed  to  repent,  and  in  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  this  prediction  was  fulfilled.  In  the  in- 
terlinking of  society,  that  which  brings  affliction  to 
the  city  causes  suffering  to  all  the  inhabitants.  This 
is  as  true  now  as  then,  and  the  fever  germs  of  a  viti- 
ated water  supply  come  into  the  brown  stone  houses 
as  truly  as  into  the  squalid  hovel.    Bad  laws,  with  un- 


140         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

just  and  oppressive  conditions,  will  ruin  a  country 
and  bring  the  downfall  of  the  privileged  class,  as 
truly  as  that  of  the  oppressed  class.  This  was  true 
in  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  and  later  in  the  down- 
fall of  Rome. 

Without  faith  in  the  Deliverer,  there  can  be  no  de- 
liverance, spiritual  or  economic.  Unbelief  is  the  sin 
against  the  Remedy  for  sin,  even  against  Jesus.  It  is 
a  rejection  of  the  code  of  His  kingdom,  hence  of  the 
kingdom,  too.  The  principles  of  His  kingdom  are  the 
laws  of  one's  being.  The  reception  of  His  message 
brings  liberty  from  bondage,  because  it  brings  us  into 
accord  with  the  laws  of  our  own  being.  As  hygiene 
ministers  to  health  so  does  the  observance  of  these 
higher  laws  of  being  minister  to  material  and  spiritual 
Well-being. 

Jesus  taught  that  there  is  an  unpardonable  sin — 
the  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  oppressing  class 
ascribed  to  the  devil  the  good  works  that  Jesus  did, 
through  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  While  these 
people  continued  to  look  to  the  wrong  source,  there 
was  no  hope  of  their  salvation.  If  they  called  evil 
good,  there  could  be  no  motive  to  seek  real  good. 
Men  who  see  black  as  white  and  white  as  black  never 
can  attain  spotless  righteousness.  In  the  business  and 
industrial  world,  conditions  are  hard,  because  men 
will  not  accept  God's  remedy  and  act  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Mediator.  The  unpardonable  sin  in 
the  economic  world,  as  truly  as  in  the  spiritual 
realm,  lies  in  looking  to  the  wrong  source  for  deliver- 
ance. 


SIN,  SUFFEKING  AND  WANT  141 

Hear  the  Mediator's  explanation,  as  recorded  by 
Mark: 

"  From  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  proceed  evil 
thoughts,  adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  cov- 
etousness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye, 
blasphemy,  pride,  foolishness;  all  these  evil  things  come 
from  within  and  defile  the  man." 

Here,  then,  lies  the  source  of  most  things  which 
make  conditions  hard,  and  affect  men's  relations  with 
one  another.  It  is  reasonable,  then,  that  to  estab- 
lish a  kingdom  of  righteousness,  and  found  a  system 
of  relief  which  could  be  controlled  by  His  words,  as 
the  directions  of  a  Mediator,  He  would  begin  by  re- 
quiring a  change  in  that  which  is  the  fountain  of 
man's  thought  and  activity.  This  would  mean  the 
elimination  of  that  which  vitiates  all  effort  for  hu- 
man betterment. 

The  cause  of  most  suffering  in  industrial  districts 
of  the  United  States  can  be  traced  to  either  the  sinful 
waste  of  wage  earners,  or  the  sinful  selfishness  of 
employers.  This  selfishness  often  grinds  down 
wages,  or  charges  exorbitant  store  prices,  or  provides 
only  places  of  squalor  in  which  employees  may  live, 
and  in  some  instances  does  all  these  things,  and  more. 
If  Jesus  were  made  Mediator  by  both  employer  and 
employee,  how  different  would  be  the  situation ! 

Jesus  taught  that  sin  produces  unhappiness  all 
through  this  life,  and  hell  in  the  life  to  come.  Per- 
haps it  would  be  nearer  correct  to  say  that  sin  is  hell 
and  that  it  begins  the  torments  of  Gehenna  in  this 
life.     Poverty  is  not  a  punishment  for  sin;  for  often 


142         JESUS  AS"  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

folks  grow  rich  by  sinful  practices.  However,  sin 
does  stand  in  the  way  of  social  redemption,  and  a 
choice  between  the  world — worldly  methods  and  sin- 
ful practices — and  the  social  and  spiritual  redemp- 
tion offered  in  the  code  of  the  Mediator  is  essentiaL 
Tames,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  says: 

"  Whence  come  wars,  and  whence  come  fightings 
among  you?  Come  they  not  hence,  even  of  your  pleas- 
ures that  war  in  your  members  ?  Ye  lust  and  have  not : 
ye  kill,  and  covet,  and  cannot  obtain;  ye  fight  and  war; 
ye  have  not  because  ye  ask  not;  ye  ask  and  receive  not, 
because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  spend  it  in  vour 
pleasures.-' 

What  a  graphic  picture  of  the  relation  of  sin  to 
human  destitution!  James  had  correctlv  sensed  the 
teaching  of  Jesus.  His  master  demand  is  that  a  resig- 
nation to  His  claims  be  made,  which  will  bring  one 
into  sympathetic  touch  with  the  downtrodden  To 
the  rich  young  ruler,  He  said,  M  Sell  what  thou  hast 
.  .  .  and  come  follow  me."  That  young  man 
could  never  strike  hands  with  the  proletariat  while 
possessed  oi  that  fortune:  hence  this  unusual  de- 
mand. 

The  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  illustrates  most 
vividly  the  relation  between  sin  and  want.  It  also 
contains  a  two- fold  economic  lesson:  The  character 
that  illustrates  the  curse  of  narrow  selfishness  is  found 
in  the  elder  brother,  who  feared  that  the  home-com- 
ing of  the  younger  meant  another  division  of  the  es- 
tate. On  the  other  hand  we  see  the  danger  and  folly 
of  riotous  living  in  the  case  of  the  younger,  who  dis- 


SIX,  SUFFERING  AXD  WANT  143 

regarded  the  laws  of  income  and  expenditure. 
Prodigality  brought  the  younger  home  in  want,  while 
parsimoniousness  brought  the  elder  brother  to 
shame,  cast  a  shadow  over  the  father's  joy  and 
marred  the  sweetness  of  filial  love. 

The  whole  tenor  of  Jesus'  teaching  is  that  prop- 
erty rightly  acquired  and  properly  used  brings  pros- 
perity to  all — not  to  one  class  at  the  expense  of  an- 
other. He  presents  a  solidarity  of  interests,  and 
makes  each  responsible  for  the  welfare  of  the  other: 
the  employer  to  the  employee;  the  workman  for 
faithfulness  to  his  manager;  the  rich  for  the  poor, 
etc.  The  factory  cannot  run  without  the  office  and 
salesroom,  and  all  must  rise  or  fall  together.  Tem- 
porary advantages  may  be  taken,  and  one  class  seem 
to  prosper  on  the  misfortunes  of  another;  but  the  re- 
action must  come.  The  very  essence  of  sin  is  selfish- 
ness, and  until  it  is  eradicated  it  is  hard  to  maintain 
a  solidarity  of  interests  wide  enough  to  affect  world 
conditions. 

Wealth  is  acquired  in  two  ways:  The  resources  of 
a  country  are  developed,  its  minerals  mined  and 
smelted,  its  forests  subdued,  its  soil  cultivated,  its  oil 
and  gas  marketed,  and  wealth  thus  created.  Large 
stores  of  food  and  clothing,  of  the  necessaries  and 
luxuries  of  life,  are  brought  into  existence,  and  values 
are  added  that  make  for  the  betterment  of  humanity. 
Employment  is  furnished,  wealth  created  and  better 
homes  and  happier  conditions  made  possible.  When 
honestly  done,  this  is  certainly  legitimate  and  is  in 
keeping  with  the  ideals  of  the  Gospels, 


144         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

The  other  method1  is  that  of  the  promoter  and 
speculator.  It  does  not  create  values,  but  detours 
that  which  has  been  created  by  others  into  the  coffers 
of  the  manipulators.  Too  much  of  the  world's  busi- 
ness to-day  is  of  that  character.  Of  course  the  sales- 
man and  distributor  are  necessary;  but  the  specula- 
tion that  produces  no  goods,  acquires  no  surplus  of 
needed  production,  but  "  bulls  "  and  "  bears "  mar- 
kets, "  corners "  products,  creates  fictitious  values 
and  reaps  usurious  profits,  is  near  akin  to  gambling. 
When  money  is  circulating  plentifully,  this  specula- 
tion adds  to  the  high  cost  of  living,  thus  heaping  bur- 
dens upon  the  poor;  when  money  becomes  scarce,  it 
drives  into  panics  and  intensifies  suffering.  Gam- 
bling is  morally  wrong,  of  course;  but  the  economic 
sin  of  it  is  that  it  creates  no  goods.  Instead  of  cre- 
ating values,  it  turns  into  the  pockets  of  the  winner 
the  hard-earned  dollars  of  the  loser.  The  exploiters 
among  the  Jews  did  not  need  to  water  stocks  and 
manipulate  securities.  They  filched  the  helpless 
otherwise  and  brought  down  upon  themselves  the 
maledictions  of  the  Mediator.  When  they  devoured 
widows'  portions,  He  told  them  that  for  turning  aside 
such  revenue  from  its  right  and  legitimate  use  they 
should  "  receive  the  greater  damnation."  What 
a  revolution  would  take  place  if  His  word  was 
made  the  rule  of  action  in  the  world's  markets  to- 
day! 

Jesus  did  not  promise  riches  for  following  Him: 
His  rewards  are  infinitely  higher.  However,  to 
Peter's  question  He  answered: 


SIN,  SUFFERING  AND  WANT  146 

"  There  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  mother,  or  father,  or  children,  or  lands,  for 
my  sake,  and  for  the  gospel's  sake,  but  he  shall  receive 
a  hundred  fold  now  in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren, 
and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children,  and  lands,  with 
persecutions ;  and  in  the  world  to  come,  eternal  life." 

The  fact  that  "whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the 
servant  of  sin,"  and  that  "  if  the  Son  make  you  free 
ye  shall  be  free  indeed,"  is  very  clearly  presented. 
Man's  natural  enemies — sin,  poverty,  ignorance  and 
inefficiency — cannot  be  subjugated  by  him  while  he 
himself  is  in  subjection.  Being  made  free,  he  be- 
comes able  to  control  himself  by  his  higher  nature. 
Sin  enslaves,  but  faith  in  Jesus  makes  free.  Sin  hin- 
ders the  progress  of  the  kingdom;  faith  in  Jesus, 
making  Him  one's  Mediator,  brings  one  into  active 
cooperation  with  Him  and  into  obedience  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  His  code.  When  the  kingdom  reigns  sin  will 
be  banished  from  the  earth.  The  golden  age  of  peace 
and  plenty,  justice  and  joy,  will  shine  with  celestial 
glory  over  all  the  old,  sin-scarred  world,  even  as  grass 
and  flowers  hide  the  scars  and  beautify  the  shell-torn 
battle-fields  of  Europe,  since  the  World  War. 


XII 

THE  MAKING  AND  USING  OF  MONEY 

"  Take  heed  and  keep  yourselves  from  covetousness : 
for  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  which  he  possesseth." — Luke  12:15. 

"  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth, 
where  moth  and  rust  consume,  and  where  thieves  break 
through  and  steal :  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in 
heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  consume,  and 
where  thieves  do  not  break  through  nor  steal :  for  where 
thy  treasure  is,  there  will  thy  heart  be,  also." — Matthew 
6: 19-21. 

IF  there  is  a  kinship  between  sin  and  human  want, 
we  should  expect  that  the  code  of  the  Mediator 
would  contain  some  very  definite  instruction 
concerning  getting  and  using  money.  The  love  of 
money  being  the  root  of  all  evil,  we  should  expect 
that  any  plan  for  the  eradication  of  evil  would  deal 
with  its  root.  Remembering  the  circumstances  under 
which  Jesus  taught — the  intense  reign  of  covetous- 
ness in  high  life,  the  Hebrew  belief  that  riches  are  an 
evidence  of  God's  favour,  and  the  unscrupulous 
methods  that  were  used  to  secure  them — we  shall  be 
prepared  for  His  denunciation  of  some  of  the  meth- 
ods of  finance,  and  His  caution  against  covetousness. 
The  Mediator's  code  does  not  prohibit  one  from 
making  a  million  dollars,  or  a  hundred  millions;  but 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  made,  and  the  uses  to  which 
it  is  applied,  do  come  under  some  very  clear  and  un- 

146 


THE  MAKING  AND  USING  OF  MONEY     147 

mistakable  principles.  Man  is  a  steward,  and  not  an 
absolute  owner,  while  money  is  a  sacred  trust.  The 
parable  of  the  Wicked  Husbandmen  illustrates  the 
outworking  of  these  principles.  Throughout  Jesus' 
teaching  there  runs  the  great  truth  of  accountability, 
which  is  also  applied  to  material  wealth.  More  than 
half  His  parables  deal  with  matters  of  property. 

Preceding  chapters  have  argued  that  "  godliness  is 
profitable  in  all  things,"  and  therefore  must  be  profit- 
able financially.  However,  the  Gospels  are  not  a  re- 
cipe for  money-getting.  The  supreme  purpose  of 
Jesus'  teaching  is  to  make  character:  not  to  make 
money.  Nevertheless,  it  is  true  that  economic  con- 
ditions have  much  to  do  with  character-making. 
Power  over  one's  subsistence  means  power  over  his 
whole  moral  being.  The  Gospels  deal  with  money 
matters  as  of  secondary  importance,  and  only  as  they 
minister  to  moral  ends.  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man 
to  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ? " 
The  soul  is  that  which  gives  value  to  humanity,  hence 
is  of  supreme  importance.  To  make  a  life  is  infinitely 
more  than  to  make  a  living.  The  character  and  in- 
telligence of  its  membership  measure  the  strength  of 
a  church ;  the  patriotism,  intelligence  and  character  of 
its  citizens  are  the  measure  of  a  country's  power. 

"  111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay." 

Rome  has  shown  us  how,  with  the  accumulation  of 
wealth,  men  are  likely  to  decay.  It  is  but  an  object 
lesson  that  has  been  repeated  in  every  age  and  clime. 


148         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

Riches  and  luxury  bring  about  effeminacy  and  decay. 
Poverty  sinks  into  degradation  and  squalor,  and 
opens  the  way  to  sins  and  evils  untold.  How  wise  is 
the  prayer  of  the  old  Hebrew  philosopher,  who  said: 

"  Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches ; 
Feed  me  with  the  food  that  is  needful  for  me; 
Lest  I  be  full  and  deny  thee  and  say,  Who  is 

Jehovah  ? 
Or,  lest  I  be  poor  and  steal, 
And  use  profanely  the  name  of  my  God." 

— Proverbs  30:9. 

It  is  not  a  question  of  more  or  less  wealth,  but 
rather  of  its  proper  distribution,  that  enters  into  the 
formation  of  proper  conditions  for  character  build- 
ing and  human  welfare.  Millions  well  distributed 
may  fill  a  proper  mission,  but  millions  at  one  extreme 
and  squalor  at  the  other  bring  discontent,  if  not  dis- 
aster. Many  peoples  have  been  happy  in  poverty, 
when  it  was  the  common  lot.  A  right  economic  dis- 
tribution makes  happy  lives,  and  saves  from  the  dan- 
gers of  great  riches  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  tempta- 
tions of  extreme  poverty  on  the  other.  That  "  the 
destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty,"  is  as  true 
to-day  as  in  the  days  of  Solomon. 

Jesus'  first  consideration  of  material  wealth,  in  its 
bearing  upon  the  formation  of  character,  is  as  it  af- 
fects the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God;  and  only 
secondarily  upon  the  material  things  themselves. 
The  treasure  carries  the  heart,  and  hence  controls 
life's  aspirations:  "Where  your  treasure  is,  there 
will  your  heart  be,  also." 


THE  MAKING  AND  USING  OF  MONEY     149 

In  His  code,  the  acquisition  of  wealth  is  not  set  up 
as  the  chief  object  of  life,  nor  a  large  bank  account  as 
the  cure-all  for  human  ills.  We  have  seen  that  an 
inordinate  desire  for  wealth  is  rebuked  and  its  dan- 
gers are  pointed  out.  Getting  it  at  another's  expense 
is  severely  denounced,  and  the  folly  of  depending 
upon  it  for  happiness  is  vividly  exposed.  However, 
the  acquisition  of  treasure  is  assumed  in  the  direc- 
tions given  for  laying  it  up  in  heaven.  To  the  Jew  of 
Jesus'  day,  no  exhortation  to  accumulate  was  needed. 
The  emphasis  was  needed  upon  just  methods  and 
right  use  of  the  accumulations. 

One  of  the  outstanding,  axiomatic  truths  in  His 
code  is,  "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters:  ye  cannot 
serve  God  and  mammon."  Single-minded  loyalty  to 
God  is  demanded  and  no  neutral  ground  is  recog- 
nized. There  is  a  deep  psychological  reason  for 
this: 

We  cannot  have  two  chief  centers  of  interest,  or 
pursue  two  lines  of  effort  at  the  same  time.  We  are 
so  constituted  by  nature  that  this  is  an  impossibility. 
Those  who  have  tried  to  do  so  in  any  line  of  en- 
deavour have  proved  its  truthfulness  by  their  failure. 
In  accordance  with  this  law  of  our  being,  Jesus  drew 
the  lesson  that  one  cannot  seek  the  things  of  the  world 
with  sufficient  zeal  to  acquire  great  riches,  and  at  the 
same  time  seek  to  establish  the  reign  of  God  within 
himself  and  others.  Two  masters  cannot  be  served 
with  success.  One  cannot  serve  in  two  places  at  the 
same  time,  or  give  equal  attention  to  two  objects  at 
the  same  moment. 


150         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

Another  difficulty  is  to  rise  from  the  narrow,  self- 
ish motives  that  blind  one  to  all  visions  of  larger 
truth.  Ben  Sira  said,  "  An  evil  eye  is  grudging  of 
bread. "  A  penny  before  the  eye  hides  the  most  beau- 
tiful landscape  and  shuts  out  the  glory  of  a  whole 
horizon.  A  mere  selfish  interest  blinds  one  to  op- 
portunitv,  biasses  one's  mind  in  matters  of  justice, 
and  prejudices  one  against  efforts  for  the  larger  good. 

Dr.  Charles  Foster  Kent  has  well  said: 

"  Complete  acknowledgement  of  the  rule  of  God  in  a 
man's  economic,  social,  intellectual,  moral  and  religious 
life  gives  him  a  right  conception  of  wealth  and  its  use, 
a  proper  social  consciousness,  a  normal  relation  to  the 
universe,  true  ethical  standards,  and  above  all  the 
knowledge  that  he  has  the  approval  of  his  divine  King 
and  Father." 

We  should  expect,  therefore,  to  find  Jesus  laying 
down  the  revolutionary  doctrine  that  one  cannot 
serve  God  and  mammon,  and  making  the  renuncia- 
tion of  mammon  a  first  condition  to  membership  in 
His  kingdom.  The  first  requirement  is  to  seek  the 
kingdom  and  the  great  promise  is  that  "  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  Thus  those  things 
necessary  to  life  and  godliness  need  not  give  one 
anxiety. 

The  danger  of  covetousness  is  greater  with  those 
who  have  had  a  taste  of  acquisition  than  with  the 
rabble  who  care  for  only  the  next  meal.  Some  of 
Jesus'  followers  were  satisfied  to  be  fed  on  loaves 
and  fishes,  but  others  had  ambitions  for  the  worldly 
emoluments   of   a   kingdom.      The    Sermon   on   the 


THE  MAKING  AND  USING  OF  MONEY     151 

Mount  was  necessary  for  the  disciples.  Many  of 
them  were  from  the  comparatively  well-to-do  people 
of  Galilee.  James  and  John,  with  their  father  Zebe- 
dee,  were  prosperous  fishermen,  owning  their  own 
craft  and  employing  servants.  Peter  possessed  a 
boat,  a  home  and  we  know  not  what  else.  Matthew 
was  called  from  a  lucrative  position  at  the  receipt  of 
customs,  and  Zaccheus,  who  must  have  been  in  quite 
prosperous  circumstances,  was  accepted  as  a  follower 
of  the  Master  while  in  possession  of  at  least  half  his 
fortune. 

This  shows  that  while  Jesus  possessed  no  fortune, 
cared  little  for  money  matters  and  practically  arose 
above  the  selfish  consideration  of  worldly  things,  be- 
ing content  with  the  common  treasury  and  the  kindly 
ministration  of  women  of  means,  who  for  sometime 
accompanied  the  group  of  disciples,  He  nevertheless 
associated  with  men  of  means  and  had  about  Him 
those  to  whom  the  love  of  worldly  possessions  ap- 
pealed. Peter  was  ready  to  say,  "  Lord,  we  have  left 
all  to  follow  thee;  what  shall  we  receive?"  So  nat- 
ural was  the  question  that  Jesus  did  not  give  him  a 
reproving  answer,  but  lifted  his  mind  to  higher 
things, — namely,  the  spiritual  rewards. 

In  exercising  the  function  of  a  Mediator  in  His  in- 
terview with  the  rich  young  ruler,  Jesus  shows  how 
wealth  sometimes  must  be  regarded  as  impedimenta. 
He  did  not  require  of  others  that  they  sell  what  they 
had.  Perhaps  there  were  two  reasons  for  doing  so 
in  this  case:  The  young  ruler  needed  to  rid  himself 
of  that  which  would  divide  his  heart,  and  also  to  get 


152         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

into  sympathy  with  the  poor,  if  he  were  to  follow 
Jesus.  Barriers  must  be  removed.  He  must  learn  to 
love  the  proletariat,  if  he  is  to  help  them.  The  Son 
of  Man  needed  to  empty  Himself  of  His  glory  as  He 
came  to  earth,  to  meet  men  and  mingle  with  them — 
to  put  aside  everything  that  would  place  a  chasm  be- 
tween Him  and  the  helpless.  The  servant  is  not 
above  his  master,  and  ought  to  be  willing  to  follow 
in  his  footsteps.  That  fine  fortune,  the  circumstances 
of  birth  and  early  life,  placed  the  rich  young  ruler  in 
an  entirely  different  realm  from  the  common  people. 

The  new  birth  upon  which  the  Mediator  insisted 
not  only  had  its  economic  side,  but  on  the  spiritual 
side  it  demanded  conditions  favourable  for  spiritual 
growth.  The  new  life  must  not  be  buried  in  the 
rubbish  of  covetousness  and  worldly  cares,  not 
crushed  with  the  weight  of  material  things,  and  not 
blighted  and  dwarfed  by  poverty,  want  and  unspiri- 
tual  surroundings.  "  The  deceitfulness  of  riches " 
must  not  choke  it.  "  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him 
give  to  him  that  hath  none."  Let  charitable  action 
prepare  the  way  for  the  reception  of  truth. 

Then,  to  secure  this  growth,  justice  must  prevail: 
"  Take  nothing  unjustly  from  any  man."  When  the 
disciples  were  astonished  at  the  difficulties  of  the  rich 
entering  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  Jesus  told  them  that 
what  is  impossible  with  men  is  quite  possible  with 
God:  He  could  strike  the  fetters  of  gold  from  the 
shackled  heart. 

The  true  purpose  of  acquisition  should  be  trans- 
portation, not  hoarding,  and  not  simply  to  spend  it 


THE  MAKING  AND  USING  OF  MONEY     153 

upon  one's  pleasure  and  vanities.  The  only  way  to 
transport  treasure  to  heaven  is  to  put  it  into  the  char- 
acter and  lives  of  people.  They  go  into  that  realm 
and  carry  with  them  their  spiritual  development,  or 
deformity.  That  which  is  inwoven  into  their  devel- 
opment is  thus  transported  and  exchanged  into  the 
coin  of  the  realm.  Treasure  may  be  invested  in 
schools,  in  missions  and  churches,  in  all  worthy 
causes  that  make  for  the  betterment  of  humanity  and 
the  glory  of  God.  However,  Jesus  nowhere  teaches 
that  these  offerings  can  atone  for  unjust  dealings  and 
economic  oppression.  If  men  have  given  large  sums 
of  money  to  charitable  objects,  hoping  to  merit  sal- 
vation by  generosity  with  ill-gotten  gains,  or  to  at- 
tempt to  make  the  fruit  of  their  business  atone  for 
the  sins  of  their  methods,  such  action  finds  no  basis 
in  the  code  of  the  Mediator.  On  the  contrary,  many 
large  manufacturers,  with  the  purest  of  motives  have 
conducted  their  business  for  the  approval  of  the 
Mediator.  A  manufacturer  recently  said  to  the 
writer: 

"  My  ambition  is  to  run  these  mills  to  the  limit  of 
their  capacity,  with  a  full  complement  of  workmen;  to 
pay  each  man  a  good  living  wage ;  to  have  the  family  of 
each  workman  comfortably  housed,  in  good,  sanitary 
surroundings;  to  afford  them  good  church  and  school 
facilities ;  to  give  them  a  quiet  Sunday  for  rest  and  wor- 
ship ;  and  in  proportion  as  I  can  do  this,  I  am  happy  and 
regard  my  work  as  successful." 

Was  not  that  man  making  an  investment  in  hu- 
manity?    Many  an  act  of  economic  justice  brings 


154         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

more  honour  to  the  Father  in  heaven  than  lavish  do- 
nations of  money  which  has  been  wrung  from  op- 
pressed workmen. 

In  Luke's  Gospel,  there  is  a  tone  which  might  lead 
to  the  belief  that  all  wealth  is  evil.  He  records  the 
sayings  of  Jesus  which  indicate  the  dangers  of  greed 
and  the  tragic  consequences  of  selfish  materialism. 
He  tells  of  the  man  who  wanted  Jesus  to  divide  the 
inheritance.  The  request  came  from  one  who  may 
have  been  labouring  under  a  grievance,  or  merely 
a  grouch;  but  Jesus  did  not  enter  into  the  merits 
of  the  case.  However,  He  did  take  occasion  to 
sound  a  note  of  warning  against  covetousness,  and 
followed  this  caution  with  the  parable  of  the  Rich 
Fool. 

Commenting  on  this  parable,  Augustus  Hare  has 
said: 

"  There  are  more  parables,  I  believe,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment against  taking  no  thought  for  heavenly  things,  and 
taking  too  much  thought  about  earthly  things,  than  any 
other  fault  whatsoever." 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  covetousness  and  exploita- 
tion practiced  by  the  Jewish  rulers  created  a  need  for 
such  teaching.  A  careful  study  will  show,  also,  that  in 
the  parables  there  is  a  rich  mine  of  economic  truth. 

The  sixteenth  chapter  of  Luke  might  be  called  the 
"  Money  Chapter."  In  the  outset  it  shows  that 
money  may  be  so  used  as  to  secure  the  favour  of 
God  and  man.  There  the  steward  of  a  rich  man  was 
accused  of  mismanagement,  and  told  to  fender  an  ac- 
count.    He  practiced  his  arts  in  the  most  unright- 


THE  MAKING  AND  USING  OF  MONEY     155 

eous  way,  that  he  might  make  friends  of  those  with 
whom  he  had  been  dealing,  and  through  them  secure 
bread  and  shelter  in  the  future.  Jesus  said  he  had 
acted  wisely — not  justly.  If  his  ethics  differed  from 
ours,  that  does  not  weaken  Jesus'  commendation  of 
his  wisdom  in  preparing  for  the  future. 

"  I  say  unto  you,  make  to  yourselves  friends  by  means 
of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness;  that  when  it  shall 
fail,  they  may  receive  you  into  eternal  tabernacles." — 
Luke  16:  p. 

The  use  of  money  is  a  test  of  faithfulness,  and  "  he 
that  is  faithful  in  a  little  is  faithful  also  in  much; 
and  he  that  is  unrighteous  in  little  is  unrighteous 
also  in  much."  What  one  would  do  with  a  million 
dollars  can  be  told  by  what  is  done  with  the  slenderest 
pay  envelope:  it  would  be  an  expenditure  on  a  larger 
scale,  but  in  the  same  direction. 

The  Pharisees,  who  were  lovers  of  money,  and 
whose  connection  with  the  exploiting  class  made 
them  supersensitive  to  the  Mediator's  denunciation 
of  covetousness,  heard  Him  and  began  to  scoff.  He 
told  them  that  they  were  trying  to  justify  themselves 
in  the  sight  of  men,  but  that  God  knew  their  hearts, 
and  was  displeased  with  them:  that  the  things  which 
they  were  exalting  were  an  abomination  to  Him.  It 
was  a  cutting  rebuke  to  their  greed. 

Luke  follows  this  rebuke  with  the  parable  of  Dives 
and  Lazarus,  showing  the  folly  of  ignoring  the  re- 
sponsibility which  wealth  brings.  There  is  no  charge 
of   fraud   in  securing  the  property,   but  there  is  a 


156         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

graphic  picture  of  the  idle  rich — "  clothed  in  purple 
and  fine  linen  and  faring  sumptuously  every  day." 
The  leisure  which  Dives  enjoyed  gave  him  opportu- 
nity to  render  fine  service.  In  fact,  when  he  did  not 
seek  the  opportunity,  circumstances  brought  it  to  his 
door  in  the  person  of  Lazarus.  His  wealth  gave  him 
abundant  ability  to  render  service,  but  he  lacked  the 
disposition  necessary.  He  failed  to  measure  up  to 
the  responsibility  which  his  accumulations  placed 
upon  him,  and  "  in  hades  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being 
in  torments,  and  seeth  Abraham  afar  off  and  Lazarus 
in  his  bosom."  The  tables  were  turned,  but  his  spirit 
was  the  same:  he  still  demanded  service,  and  put  up 
a  plea  that  Lazarus  be  sent  to  minister  to  him.  Ac- 
customed to  being  served,  he  had  no  thought  of  "  not 
being  ministered  to,  but  ministering."  Hell  could  not 
give  him  a  heart  to  serve,  since  he  had  lived  to  be 
served. 

When  Archelaus  went  to  Rome  to  seek  a  share  of 
his  father's  kingdom,  the  Jews  sent  a  deputation  after 
him,  to  warn  Csesar  that  they  would  not  have  him  to 
rule  over  them.  Jesus  used  this  well-known  bit  of 
history  as  a  setting  for  His  parable  of  the  Pounds,  in 
which  He  impressed  the  lesson  of  stewardship  and 
responsibility.  To  each  one  was  given  a  pound,  and 
on  the  return  of  the  master,  settlement  was  de- 
manded. Rewards  and  punishment  were  admin- 
istered according  as  each  one  had  used,  or  failed  to 
use,  "his  lord's  money."  It  was  not  his  own,  since 
he  was  but  a  steward  to  handle  the  treasure  for  an- 
other. 


THE  MAKING  AND  USING  OF  MONEY     157 

To  avoid  lengthening  this  chapter  unduly,  the  fol- 
lowing references  are  given,  with  the  suggestion  that 
they  be  studied  from  the  economic  point  of  view: 

Matthew  25 :  1-10 :  the  folly  of  improvidence  shown 
in  oilless  lamps. 

Luke  14 :  28-30,  33 :  the  importance  of  good  business 
sense. 

Luke  7:41-47:  a  warning  against  unjust  dealing. 

Luke  1 1 :  5-9 :  the  duty  of  helping  by  a  loan. 

Matthew  20 : 1-16 :  gracious  dealing  with  hired  la- 
bourers. 

Matthew  13:45-46:  seeking  the  best  value  for  one's 
money. 

Luke  19:  12-27:  honest  dealing;  and  losing  what  isn't 
used. 

Luke  12 :  16-32 :  the  folly  of  overreaching. 

Matthew  12: 11-12:  wisdom  of  saving  property. 

Many  others  will  suggest  themselves,  as  for  example, 
the  Unjust  Steward,  the  Unprofitable  Servant,  the 
Wicked  Husbandmen,  etc.,  showing  the  economic 
value  of  Jesus'  parables. 

The  history  of  Christianity  shows  that  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  is  not  only  in  closest  sympathy  with  strug- 
gling humanity,  but  that  it  is  a  leverage  by  which 
honest  workers  have  been  lifted  into  better  conditions. 
From  men  of  means,  whose  hearts  are  touched  by  the 
spirit  of  the  Mediator  it  brings  kindlier  cooperation 
and  better  opportunities  for  the  struggling  ones.  It 
restrains  the  oppressive  rich,  and  encourages  every 
worthy  effort  of  the  labourer.  It  cultivates  the  spirit 
and  disposition,  the  industry  and  energy,  which  bring 
better  living  conditions,  and  make  humanity  happier, 


158         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

as  well  as  holier.  It  encourages  the  workingman  to 
have  a  bank  account  and  to  own  his  home. 

A  London  paper  once  sneeringly  remarked  that 
"  the  poor  do  not  go  to  church."  Another  paper  re- 
plied, "  Those  who  go  to  church  do  not  remain  poor." 
The  church  that  faithfully  presents  the  economic 
teaching  of  the  Mediator  has  a  spirit  in  its  worship 
that  naturally,  and  often  unconsciously,  cultivates 
thrift,  inspires  educational  ideals,  and  leads  to  tem- 
poral betterment.  These  things  are  added  as  a  nat- 
ural result  of  the  spiritual  changes. 

The  profession  of  Christianity  that  makes  no 
change  in  one's  financial  life  is  open  to  suspicion. 
The  conversion  of  the  "  tight-wad  "  will  be  suspected 
until  he  loosens  his  purse  strings;  that  of  the  indus- 
trial Shylock  until  he  leaves  off  his  pound  of  flesh; 
that  of  the  gambler  until  he  leaves  his  games  and 
turns  his  revenue  into  the  betterment  of  his  home; 
that  of  the  idler  until  he  works,  and  that  of  the  selfish 
man  until  he  forsakes  his  selfishness  and  plans  his 
finances  for  God  and  humanity ! 


XIII 

COMMUNISM  OR  CAPITALISM? 

"The  land  shall  not  be  sold  in  perpetuity." — Leviti- 
cus 25:23. 

"  If  a  man  sell  a  dwelling-house  in  a  walled  city,  then 
he  may  redeem  it  within  a  whole  year  after  it  is  sold." — 
Leviticus  25:29. 

"  Thou  shalt  not  remove  thy  neighbour's  landmark." 
— Deuteronomy  19: 14. 

"And  there  Joshua  divided  the  land  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,  according  to  their  divisions." — Joshua  18: 10. 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  a 
merchantman  seeking  goodly  pearls:  and  having  found 
one  pearl  of  great  price,  he  went  and  sold  all  that  he  had 
and  bought  it." — Matthew  13: 45-46. 

"  The  husbandmen,  when  they  saw  the  son,  said 
among  themselves,  This  is  the  heir :  come,  let  us  kill  him 
and  take  his  inheritance." — Matthew  21:38. 

"  Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine 
own  ?  or  is  thine  eye  evil  because  I  am  good  ?  " — Matthew 
20: 15. 


Do  the  above  quotations  carry  any  message  concern- 
ing the  individual  ownership  of  property? 

IN  seeking  release  from  the  fetters  fastened  upon 
labour  by  slavery,  feudalism  and  other  oppress- 
ive systems,  many  schemes  of  relief  have  been 
proposed.  While  there  are  innumerable  variations 
and  subdivisions  in  all  prospective  plans,  the  main 

i59 


160         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

schools  into  which  the  larger  and  more  active  bodies 
are  divided  may  be  set  forth  with  approximate  ac- 
curacy as  two; — namely,  those  who  believe  in  public 
ownership  of  property,  or  "  community  of  goods," 
and  those  who  hold  to  the  commonly-accepted  belief 
that  private  and  personal  ownership  will  bring  about 
the  better  social  and  economic  conditions.  Innumer- 
able organizations  which  would  fall  under  one  or  the 
other  of  these  classes  would  present  wide  disagree- 
ments, one  from  another,  in  every  other  form  of 
thought  and  activity. 

With  the  industrial  awakening  that  followed  the 
birth  of  modern  democracy,  men  who  believed  that 
better  systems  were  possible  set  forth  a  number  of 
distinct  lines  along  which  they  thought  society  might 
be  organized  without  the  present  capitalistic  code. 
Over  against  all  of  them  stands  the  present  order. 
Must  it  be  overthrown?  Can  we  get  the  mind  of  the 
Mediator  concerning  this  matter? 

Perhaps  a  brief  resume  of  the  origin  and  early 
claims  of  these  schemes  would  give  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  the  real  point  at  issue.  Only  a  very 
meager  sketch  can  be  given,  and  in  the  interest  of 
fairness  it  should  be  said  that  the  claims  and  demands 
of  these  systems  are  the  early  ones  of  their  origina- 
tors and  not  the  myriad  modifications  of  later  writers. 
They  need  to  be  traced  only  far  enough  to  show  that 
their  real  basis  of  appeal  is  found  in  communal  own- 
ership of  property,  which  it  is  believed  should  take  the 
place  of  the  present  capitalistic  system. 

Socialism  stands  foremost  among  the  systems  un- 


COMMUNISM  OE  CAPITALISM!  161 

der  consideration.  The  investigation  of  its  cardinal 
principles  will  apply  only  to  its  teaching  concerning 
industry  and  economics,  without  any  reference  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Socialistic  Party  in  the  United 
States. 

Its  economic  attitude  has  been  defined  as  "  the  ad- 
vocacy of  communal  ownership  of  land  and  capital " 
— ownership  by  a  democratic  State,  not  a  monarchy. 
Many  present-day  Socialists  would  amplify  this  defi- 
nition, but  most  of  them  would  admit  that  it  ex- 
presses the  kernel  of  the  cult. 

Passing  by  Robert  Owen,  Reyband,  Saint-Simon, 
Fourier,  Louis  Blanc,  Rodbertus,  Lasalle  and  many 
other  early  Socialists  who  helped  to  give  form  to  the 
new  thought  of  individual  emancipation,  which 
dawning  democracy  was  inspiring,  its  initiatory 
genius  undoubtedly  was  Karl  Marx.  He  was  born  in 
1818,  the  son  of  a  German  Jew  who  was  converted 
to  Christianity,  and  was  a  legal  official  in  Treves, 
Germany.  Being  banished  from  Germany,  Marx 
lived  in  France,  Belgium  and  England.  In  Paris,  in 
1844,  he  met  Engels,  a  Socialist  from  Manchester, 
who  became  his  fellow-worker.  Marx  was  driven 
from  Paris  in  1845,  and  together  they  resided  in 
Brussels,  formulating  plans  and  constitution  for  the 
new  order. 

Marx's  "  Communist  Manifesto,"  setting  forth  his 
doctrines,  appeared  in  1848.  It  set  forth  three  foun- 
dation principles  of  his  teaching: 

1.  The  Materialistic  Interpretation  of  History. 
All  phenomena  in  human  history  have  their  origin  in 


162         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

the  material  conditions  which  are  embodied  in  eco- 
nomic systems.  History  is  but  the  record  of  material 
causes  operating  upon  human  beings.  Law,  religion, 
philosophy,  et  cetera,  are  but  expressions  of  the  eco- 
nomic regime  of  the  land  and  time  in  which  they 
prevail. 

2.  The  Law  of  Concentration  of  Capital.  Prop- 
erty will  more  and  more  accumulate  in  the  hands  of 
the  few,  giving  rise  to  growing  trusts,  until  it  will 
eventually  overthrow  the  capitalistic  system  by  its 
own  overreaching  methods.  For  instance,  landown- 
ers will  grow  fewer  as  estates  grow  larger,  and  thus 
the  evils  of  the  system  will  become  more  glaring  and 
will  awaken  a  fiercer  opposition.  The  cooperation  of 
capital  will  beget  trusts,  which  only  the  cooperation 
of  labour  will  overthrow,  and  for  protection  against 
which  concentrated  and  organized  efforts  of  labour 
will  be  necessary.  This  naturally  led  to  the  third 
consideration. 

3.  Class  War.  Marx  believed  that  society  re- 
garded the  labourer  as  nothing,  but  the  capitalist  as 
everything.  Instead  of  friendly  relationship  and  co- 
operation, he  placed  the  labourer  and  the  capitalist 
in  sharp  antithesis.  He  regarded  the  two  classes  as 
having  interests  that  are  necessarily  antagonistic,  and 
which  therefore  drive  them  into  class  war.  Working- 
men  must  combine  against  their  exploiters.  When 
there  is  a  world-wide  combination,  land  and  capital 
will  be  owned  in  common,  exploitation  will  cease  and 
there  will  no  longer  be  any  division  of  society  into 
classes. 


COMMUNISM  OE  CAPITALISM?  163 

Communism  was  the  aim  and  remedy  which  he 
suggested.  He  considered  the  State  the  proper  cus- 
todian to  administer  the  funds. 

Marx  was  a  voluminous  and  painstaking  writer, 
and  was  especially  active  in  the  collection  of  data 
bearing  upon  industrial  conditions.  His  great  work, 
"  Capital,"  was  published  in  three  volumes,  two  of 
which  were  issued  after  his  death. 

Anarchism  should  perhaps  stand  second  in  these 
schemes  for  betterment  which  we  are  examining.  It 
doesn't  necessarily  mean  bomb-throwing,  but  at  heart 
is  the  belief  that  "  liberty  is  the  supreme  good."  It 
regards  the  police  power  of  the  State  as  a  means  of 
restraining  liberty,  and  forcing  upon  the  minority  the 
views  of  the  party  in  power,  hence  there  has  never 
been  very  cordial  relations  between  Anarchists  and 
the  State.  It  opposes  all  laws,  except  those  to  which 
each  person  can  give  assent.  It  cannot  stand  "  the 
tyranny  of  the  majority."  It  differs  from  Socialism 
in  opposing  the  State.  Anarchism  believes  in  com- 
munal ownership  of  property,  but  fears  to  trust  the 
State  to  administer  it. 

Anarchism  was  taught  by  a  Chuang  Tzu,  a  Chinese 
philosopher,  300  b.  c,  but  its  rise  in  modern  times 
dates  from  Michel  Bakunin,  born  in  1814,  the  son  of 
a  Russian  aristocratic  family.  His  father  was  a 
diplomatist.  As  a  military  ensign  in  the  Polish  in- 
surrection of  1830,  Bakunin  was  inspired  with  a  ha- 
tred of  despotism.  A  long  student  career  led  him  to 
become  a  revolutionist.  He  was  driven  from  one 
country  to  another  and  resided  in  Paris  from  1843  to 


164         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

1847.  There  he  met  Marx  and  Engels,  with  whom 
he  waged  a  lifelong  war.  With  them,  he  believed 
in  the  communal  ownership  of  property,  but  dif- 
fered from  them  in  his  views  of  the  State  becoming 
custodian.  He  was  imprisoned  in  Russia,  but  escaped 
and  formed  a  labour  organization  in  Italy,  in  1864. 
In  Switzerland,  in  1867,  he  founded  "  The  Interna- 
tional Alliance  of  Socialist  Democracy."  The  organ- 
ization spread  to  some  extent. 

Unlike  Marx,  Bakunin's  writings  were  few  and 
fragmentary.  They  were  so  incomplete  that  they 
furnished  no  rounded-out  system.  Kropotkin,  a 
Russian  aristocrat  familiar  with  the  inside  of  prisons, 
wrote  largely  on  the  subject  of  Anarchism,  present- 
ing Bakunin's  principles  with  persuasiveness  and 
charm. 

The  doctrine  of  Anarchism  brought  it  into  conflict 
with  the  police  and  made  it  a  word  of  terror.  It  at- 
tracted much  that  was  lying  on  the  border  land  of 
insanity  and  crime.  Its  principles  of  economics  have 
permeated  other  systems  to  some  extent;  its  belief  in 
liberty  as  the  supreme  good  has  been  an  inspiration 
to  many  in  the  struggle  for  larger  freedom;  but  its 
radicalism  has  prevented  its  taking  any  large  place  in 
the  evolution  of  industrialism.  In  fact,  it  stands  for 
revolution,  rather  than  evolution. 

Syndicalism  is  a  combination  of  the  foregoing  sys- 
tems, with  certain  elements  distinctively  its  own.  It 
arose  in  France,  as  a  revolt  against  political  Social- 
ism. After  the  Franco-German  war,  Socialist  parties 
increased  rapidly,  the  revival  beginning  in  France,  in 


COMMUNISM  OR  CAPITALISM?  166 

1877.  However,  Socialists  who  were  there  elected  to 
office  betrayed  their  party's  principles,  used  the  army 
to  put  down  strikes,  and  otherwise  turned  the  machin- 
ery of  the  State  into  an  engine  of  oppression.  The 
industrialists  became  disheartened,  and  organized 
Syndicalism  as  a  channel  through  which  they  might 
substitute  industrial  for  political  action.  It  stands  for 
the  point  of  view  of  the  producer,  as  against  the  con- 
sumer. Its  organization,  commonly  known  as  the 
"  C.  G.  T."  (Confederation  Generale  du  Travail)  was 
founded  in  1895  and  achieved  its  final  form  in  1902. 

The  Class  War  is  an  essential  doctrine  in  Syndical- 
ism, but  it  is  to  be  carried  on  by  industrial  instead  of 
political  methods.  Its  weapons  are  largely  sabotage, 
the  boycott  and  the  strike. 

The  aims  of  Syndicalism  are  not  so  definite  as  its 
methods.  It  would  destroy  the  State,  for  a  State  is 
capitalistic.  It  would  make  each  industry  self-gov- 
erning, but  beyond  this,  its  aims  are  not  so  clearly 
defined. 

Syndicalism  is  too  radical  for  the  workers  of  Great 
Britain,  but  it  is  being  received  there  in  the  modified 
form  of  Guild  Socialism. 

While  arising  in  Europe,  these  systems  have 
spread  throughout  most  of  the  world.  The 
"I.  W.  W."  (Industrial  Workers  of  the  World)  in 
America  is  largely  French  Syndicalism  on  a  new  soil. 
It  demands  that  all  industries  be  turned  over  to  the 
control  of  the  workers,  but  it  is  not  united  on  the 
form  which  it  wishes  society  to  take. 

Bolshevism,  the  latest,  most  war-like  and  aggres- 


166         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

sive  of  the  communist  systems,  was  born  amid  the 
throes  of  the  World  War,  and  consequently  presents 
a  military  as  well  as  industrial  policy.  It  is  closely 
akin  to  Anarchism,  and  has  effected  the  overthrow 
of  the  State  in  Russia  and  the  institution  of  a  govern- 
ment after  its  own  ideals,  and  has  also  declared  in 
favour  of  a  distribution  of  property.  Just  what  it  has 
accomplished  is  not  generally  known,  but  of  one  re- 
sult there  is  absolute  certainty:  It  has  demonstrated 
beyond  a  doubt  that  unregenerated  society  cannot  be 
trusted  to  do  justice  for  all.  Marx,  Bakunin  and 
Kropotkin  evidently  believed  that  society,  when  re- 
lieved of  the  capitalistic  system,  would  automatically 
adjust  itself  to  the  greatest  good  of  every  person. 
Bolshevism  has  proved  the  opposite. 

It  has  been  a  disappointment  to  many  of  its  friends, 
who  hoped  for  peace  and  favoured  its  regime  because 
they  were  "  war  weary."  It  has  proved  to  be  war, 
and  not  the  peace  for  which  these  early  advocates 
hoped.  The  passivist  element  found  in  Socialism  has 
been  unknown  in  Russia  since  the  Bolsheviki  leaders 
gained  control. 

Instead  of  liberating  the  workers,  it  has  enslaved 
them  by  forced  labour.  The  tyranny  of  the  prole- 
tariat has  become  worse  than  that  of  the  former 
Czar,  while  power  has  been  placed  in  hands  less  sym- 
pathetic, less  capable  and  less  responsible.  It  is  the 
farthest  remove* from  democracy,  being  simply  class 
autocracy,  organized  on  a  class  basis  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  continuing  class  antagonism. 

All  of  these  systems  aim  at  the  abolition  of  private 


COMMUNISM  OR  CAPITALISM  ?  167 

ownership  of  property.  Socialism  would  have  own- 
ership by  the  State,  Anarchism  by  everybody,  Syn- 
dicalism by  organized  labour,  and  Bolshevism  by  its 
own  "  Dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat." 

Except  the  Bolshevists,  all  are  passivists  as  to  war 
between  nations,  but  militant  in  the  methods  of  gain- 
ing their  own  ends. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labour  represents  a 
different  set  of  principles,  which  are  too  well  known 
to  need  presentation. 

We  have  seen  that  the  one  point  of  unity  in  the 
foregoing  systems  is  the  overthrow  of  the  present 
capitalistic  system,  and  establishing  in  its  place  the 
communal  ownership  of  land  and  property.  Here  is 
the  real  point  at  issue,  and  here  the  fiercest  battle 
will  be  fought.  To  the  average  man,  this  sounds  well 
when  it  is  spoken  of  "  the  capitalistic  system  " ;  but 
when  he  realizes  that  it  applies  to  his  own  house  and 
lot  which  is  the  home  of  himself  and  family,  and  to 
his  bank  account  and  other  savings,  it  becomes  rather 
disconcerting  and  causes  him  a  bit  of  unrest.  He 
may  see  the  need  of  the  State  owning,  or  at  least 
operating,  certain  public  utilities,  and  even  keeping  a 
controlling  hand  upon  business  and  industry;  but 
when  it  comes  to  surrendering  his  own  property  and 
making  the  State  his  master,  he  raises  the  question  as 
to  whether  man  was  made  for  the  State,  or  the  State 
was  made  for  man.  The  World  War  and  Russian 
Bolshevism  have  shown  him  how  tyrannical  a  State 
can  become  when  the  occasion  arises.  While  feeling 
that  there  is  something  wrong  with  present  condi- 


168         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

tions,  nevertheless  the  forces  that  are  "  boring  from 
within "  awaken  the  fear  that  their  remedy  might 
prove  worse  than  the  disease.  Naturally,  he  would 
be  expected  to  seek  the  mind  of  the  Mediator;  for 
here  is  the  real  center  of  the  coming  storm. 

The  New  Testament  is  a  book  of  thrift.  When  it 
enjoins  folks  to  "  provide  things  honest  in  the  sight 
of  all  men,"  and  declares  that  "  if  any  provideth  not 
for  his  own,  and  especially  his  own  household,  he 
hath  denied  the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  unbe- 
liever," it  certainly  will  not  leave  one  in  ignorance  of 
the  system  by  which  this  provision  may  be  made. 

What  did  Jesus  teach  concerning  the  private  own- 
ership of  property?  Both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments assume  the  individual  holding  of  property  as 
a  social  institution  and  a  law  of  the  land.  Palestine 
was  divided  among  the  tribes  and  families  of  Israel, 
Jehovah  declaring  that  the  land  belonged  to  Him,  and 
that  He  gave  it  to  them.  This  most  remarkable 
"  land  patent "  in  the  world  also  provided  that  the 
title  to  the  land  should  be  vested  in  the  heads  of  the 
families,  and  that  it  should  never  be  sold  in  per- 
petuity by  them.  This  was  Jehovah's  provision  to 
care  for  their  temporal  welfare,  secure  a  democratic 
equality  among  them,  prevent  the  avaricious  from 
getting  a  monopoly  of  the  land  and  grinding  the  un- 
fortunate into  the  pangs  of  poverty.  If  an  inherit- 
ance had  to  be  sold,  it  reverted  to  the  family  on  the 
Year  of  Jubilee.  However,  the  inheritance  was  held 
by  individuals  and  administered  by  them,  not  by  the 
State.    After  the  Captivity,  when  this  system  was  no 


COMMUNISM  OE  CAPITALISM!  169 

longer  operative,  the  acquisition  of  property  was  en- 
couraged and  the  holder's  rights  protected.  There  is 
no  record  of  any  criticism  of  the  ownership  of  prop- 
erty made  by  Jesus. 

Many  of  His  parables  are  based  on  the  assumption 
of  rightful  ownership.  In  that  of  the  Prodigal  Son, 
one  sees  the  father  dividing  to  each  his  legal  portion 
and  recognizing  their  right  to  hold  it.  In  that  of  the 
Pieces  of  Silver,  the  same  rightful  ownership  is  ac- 
knowledged. The  Pearl  of  Great  Price,  and  that  of 
the  Hid  Treasure,  likewise  acknowledge  and  com- 
mend personal  ownership.  Another  instance  may  be 
found  in  the  case  of  the  Unjust  Steward,  and  still 
others  in  the  Building  of  a  Tower,  the  Talents,  the 
Unmerciful  Servant,  and  in  many  other  parables.  In 
that  of  the  Wicked  Husbandmen  (Matthew 
21:  33-45),  the  right  to  the  ownership  of  real  estate 
is  conceded.  The  parable  of  the  Labourers  Hired 
(Matthew  20:  1-16)  shows  the  householder  doing 
as  he  chooses  with  his  own  and  justifying  himself  on 
the  grounds  of  individual  ownership. 

Unjust  methods  of  acquiring  property,  and  un- 
righteously holding  it  in  the  face  of  grim  want,  were 
severely  denounced  by  Jesus,  but  even  in  the  case  of 
Dives  and  Lazarus  the  question  of  the  right  to  own 
property  is  not  raised.  He  called  Zaccheus  when  that 
man  had  large  possessions.  After  offering  half  of 
his  goods  to  the  poor,  and  to  restore  four- fold  any 
that  had  been  wrongfully  obtained,  there  must  have 
been  a  large  residue  in  the  hands  of  Zaccheus;  but 
his  right  to  own  it  was  not  questioned.     Nor  do  we 


170         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

find  Jesus  making  provision  for  any  holding  organi- 
zation, or  body  to  administer  a  common  fund. 

Two  instances  which  may  seem  to  be  out  of  har- 
mony with  these  statements  are  recorded:  The  first  is 
that  of  the  rich  young  ruler,  who  was  told  to  give  up 
all  that  he  might  follow  Jesus.  That  there  was  a 
good  and  sufficient  reason  for  requiring  this  is  dis- 
cussed in  another  chapter.  Here  it  is  enough  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  it  was  not  on  the  grounds 
that  it  is  wrong  for  an  individual  to  own  property. 

This  ruler  was  not  requested  to  "  sell  all "  except 
as  such  action  would  enable  him  the  more  successfully 
to  follow  Jesus.    As  Toplady  expresses  the  need: 

"  Since  much  wealth  too  often  proves  a  snare  and  an 
encumbrance  in  the  Christian  race,  let  him  lighten  the 
weight  by  '  dispersing  abroad  and  giving  to  the  poor ' ; 
whereby  he  will  both  soften  the  pilgrimage  of  his  fellow- 
travellers,  and  speed  his  own  way  the  faster." 

The  requirement  did  not  question  his  right  to  own, 
but  presented  his  privilege  to  give,  and  thereby  trans- 
fer his  treasure  into  heaven. 

The  other  is  the  case  of  the  community  of  goods 
at  the  time  of  the  Pentecostal  revival.  In  that  case, 
folks  came  to  Jerusalem  to  attend  the  Passover  and 
tarried  for  the  revival  until  their  provisions  were 
consumed;  the  hospitality  of  the  Jews  who  had  re- 
jected Jesus,  to  those  who  were  in  attendance  at  such 
meetings,  would  be  quite  stinted;  and  doubtless  deep 
need  had  risen.  By  the  common  fund,  the  early 
Christians  provided  for  that  need;  but  it  was  a  mat- 
ter of  charity,  and  not  an  organized  social  movement 


COMMUNISM  OR  CAPITALISM  !  171 

to  establish  communal  ownership  as  a  feature  of  the 
new  religion.  The  apostles  did  not  understand  that 
it  was  to  be  permanent,  and  no  further  instance  is 
found  in  the  New  Testament. 

But  perhaps  the  Class  War  taught  by  the  systems 
which  we  have  examined  is  the  most  antagonistic  of 
all  to  the  mind  of  the  Mediator.  Hear  Him  saying, 
"  All  ve  are  brethren " — you  fishermen  who  own 
your  boats  and  your  homes,  you  folks  in  comfortable 
circumstances  who  employ  labour,  and  you  labourers 
who  are  poor  and  heavy  laden — "ye  are  brethren": 
not  class  enemies  to  bite  and  devour  one  another. 

To  make  Him  Mediator  between  men — ail  classes 
of  men — and  to  study  these  problems  in  the  light  of 
His  teaching,  will  enable  us  to  see  them  from 
heaven's  point  of  view.  That  will  clear  our  minds 
and  give  us  a  vision  that  will  inspire  our  hearts  for 
heroic  action. 


XIV 
ECONOMICS  IN  THE  JUDGMENT  CODE 

"  Before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations ;  and  he 
shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  the  shepherd 
separateth  the  sheep  from  the  goats." — Matthew  25: 32. 

A  MEDIATORIAL  element  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  is  seen  in  His  continuously  keeping  be- 
fore His  followers  the  certainty  of  a  time  of 
reckoning — a  day  when  the  world  would  no  longer 
sit  in  judgment  upon  His  claims,  or  have  a  chance  to 
choose  Him;  but  when  He  would  judge  the  world. 
Then  He  would  not  be  a  chosen  Mediator,  but  a  con- 
stituted Judge. 

It  is  not  easy  to  separate  all  the  references  to  a 
future  judgment  from  those  that  have  a  local  mean- 
ing, as  for  instance,  the  passages  that  refer  to  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  However,  Matthew 
25:31-56  is  definite  enough  to  form  the  basis  of  an 
inquiry  concerning  its  economic  bearing,  without  un- 
dertaking to  sift  out  all  passages  that  might  be 
termed  "  Judgment  Literature." 

It  is  suggestive  that  the  description  of  the  judg- 
ment scene  follows  the  parable  of  the  Talents,  in 
which  the  unprofitable  servant  who  did  not  rightly 
use  his  lord's  money  was  subjected  to  the  severest 
possible  punishment.  The  entire  chapter  is  given  to 
the  portrayal  of  the  right  use  of  things.    Of  the  Ten 

172 


ECONOMICS  IN  THE  JUDGMENT  CODE    173 

Virgins,  five  were  foolish  because  they  failed  to  use 
material  things  to  prepare  for  the  future.  Then  fol- 
lows the  parable  of  the  Talents,  in  which  character  is 
again  portrayed  by  the  use  made  of  worldly  goods, 
and  finally  the  judgment  scene  is  pictured,  in  which 
weal  or  woe  is  based  upon  the  use  made  of  this 
world's  goods  in  meeting  God-given  opportunities. 
The  chapter  is  among  the  most  solemn  utterances  of 
the  Mediator,  and  was  spoken  but  three  days  before 
His  final  suffering  and  death. 

The  imagery  of  the  scene  is  strikingly  impressive, 
but  we  cannot  tell  how  far  it  is  to  be  realized  as  to 
its  local  setting.  All  descriptions  of  things  spiritual 
and  unseen  are  dependent  upon  material  analogies. 
We  can  reach  a  conclusion,  and  see  a  demonstration; 
but  for  the  "reach"  and  "see"  we  are  obliged  to 
borrow  from  our  physical  vocabulary.  While  the 
imagery  is  sublime,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  reality 
will  be  still  more  impressive  and  solemn. 

It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  Mediator's 
code  that  we  are  saved  by  faith,  and  not  by  works; 
yet,  this  judgment  scene  bases  rewards  upon  works. 
Is  there  a  contradiction  between  this  and  the  earlier 
teaching  of  Jesus,  or  between  this  and  Paul's  declara- 
tion that  "  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith ; "  and 
"not  of  works"?  When  the  separation  has  taken 
place,  and  the  righteous  are  arrayed  upon  the  King's 
right  and  the  wicked  upon  His  left, 

"Then  shall  the  king  say  unto  them  upon  his  right 
hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  king- 
dom  prepared    for   you     from    the    foundation   of    the 


174         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

world:  for  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat:  I 
was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink:  I  was  a  stranger, 
and  ye  took  me  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me;  I  was 
sick,  and  ye  visited  me;  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came 
unto  me." 

The  wicked  are  cursed  upon  the  same  grounds, — 
namely,  that  they  had  not  done  these  things  unto  the 
followers  of  the  Mediator.  The  Judge  identified  His 
interests  with  the  interests  of  His  followers,  and  ac- 
counted what  had  been  done  unto  them  as  having  been 
done  unto  Him.  Wrong  social  relations,  and  unsym- 
pathetic conduct,  are  here  presented  as  the  condemn- 
ing sin  of  which  the  unrighteous  were  guilty,  while 
social  service  stands  out  prominently  as  the  saving 
element  of  the  righteous.  Personal  relationship  is 
seen. 

But  what  of  the  seeming  cleavage  between  faith 
and  works?  One  is  cause,  the  other  effect,  and  here 
we  have  the  solution.  Christianity  is  a  life,  and  that 
life  is  born  through  faith  in  Jesus.  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  me  hath  everlasting  life."  Life  must  func- 
tion in  some  kind  of  activity.  The  Judge  doesn't 
need  to  institute  a  microscopic  search  for  orthodoxy 
and  denounce  heresies,  infidelity  and  agnosticism. 
The  works  of  life  tell  the  whole  story  of  faith,  love 
and  endurance — or  of  the  reverse. 

Jesus  needs  not  that  any  one  should  minister  to 
Him  personally,  but  He  leaves  men  and  women  on 
earth  who  do  need  ministering  to,  and  whom  He  con- 
siders as  His  representatives.  Our  attitude  toward 
them  defines  our  attitude  toward  Him.     To  be  un- 


ECONOMICS  IN  THE  JUDGMENT  CODE    175 

just  and  unsympathetic  toward  them  is  to  manifest 
our  lack  of  saving  faith  in  Him,  Right  personal  re- 
lationship is  the  real  test. 

Do  the  words  of  Jesus  concerning  feeding  the 
hungry  and  clothing  the  naked  apply  to  charity  only? 
Is  there  not  a  deeper  and  fuller  meaning  when  we  in- 
terpret them  economically? 

Did  charitably  inclined  folks  but  have  the  means, 
bread  might  be  furnished  the  needy  until  communi- 
ties would  become  pauperized.  Folks  do  what  they 
are  paid  for  doing:  that  for  which  they  are  paid  the 
largest  amount  for  the  least  labour.  Pay  them  for 
begging  and  a  surprisingly  large  number  will  beg: 
pay  them  for  working  and  every  true  man  and 
woman  will  work. 

To  furnish  a  man  work  that  will  create  new  values, 
enrich  countries,  and  at  the  same  time  earn  bread  for 
himself  and  loved  ones,  is  the  noblest  way  to  feed  the 
hungry.  The  labourer  doesn't  want  charity:  he 
wants  a  fair  chance  to  earn.  This  enables  him  to 
develop  skill  and  to  earn  bread  for  others.  The  man 
who  makes  clothing  for  others  is  earning  food  and 
clothing  for  himself.  Those  who  care  for  the  sick 
minister  to  a  much  wider  circle  than  the  immediate 
patient;  they  earn  their  own  living  and  make  pro- 
vision for  those  who  depend  upon  them.  The  one 
who  becomes  sponsor  for  a  parolled  prisoner  puts 
earning  forces  to  work,  helps  to  minister  to  bodily 
wants  and  to  save  a  soul.  This  is  the  worth-while 
way  to  visit  those  who  are  in  prison. 

A  business  or  industrial  system  that  would  impov- 


176         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

erish  workmen  could  create  needs  that  no  amount  of 
charity  could  supply.  Supposing  that  the  charity  ex- 
isted, where  would  be  the  wisdom  of  an  industrial 
enterprise  that  would  impoverish  the  employees  and 
then  devote  the  profits  to  meeting  their  necessities  by 
giving,  rather  than  paying?  Why  not  stop  the  mak- 
ing of  dependents?  Who  is  profited  by  making 
them,  and  then  using  the  sums  squeezed  out  of  their 
lives  to  take  care  of  them  in  charitable  or  state  in- 
stitutions, or  by  private  philanthropy?  Modern 
Diveses  make  too  many  Lazarusses  and  leave  them  to 
get  their  crumbs  from  somebody  else's  table. 

The  prison  visits,  of  course,  were  for  the  purpose 
of  bettering  the  prisoner's  condition,  or  securing  his 
release,  and  not  for  sentiment  or  idle  curiosity.  A 
gad-about  Christianity  can  never  meet  the  test  of  the 
judgment.  A  Christianity  that  forever  lives  up  to  a 
program  for  human  betterment  is  required.  Modern 
conditions,  in  too  many  cases,  are  not  delivering  the 
imprisoned  proletariat,  but  are  forging  fetters  that 
will  bind  them  for  life.  The  hunger  of  loved  ones 
and  the  pangs  of  poverty  often  tie  men  upon  the 
wheels  of  industry  until  their  quivering  bodies  are 
broken. 

To  refer  again  to  the  parable  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus,  which  might  be  classed  among  the  "  Judg- 
ment Literature,"  it  will  be  found  to  show  the  cleav- 
age between  right  and  wrong  socially  and  economic- 
ally. Dives  was  not  condemned  because  he  was  rich, 
but  because  he  was  controlled  by  the  selfish,  anti- 
social spirit.     There  was  no  provision  made  for  the 


ECONOMICS  IN  THE  JUDGMENT  CODE    177 

poor  man  at  his  door,  either  by  giving  charity  or 
furnishing  him  employment.  Dives  was  unsocial  and 
unhelpful  in  life,  and  what  hotter  hell  than  to  be  left 
to  the  folly  of  such  a  choice,  and  to  the  scorpion  sting 
of  an  undying  remorse  through  all  eternity!  He  was 
unhelpful  here,  hence  there  was  no  help  for  him;  he 
was  unsocial,  hence  for  him  there  was  no  sociability! 
"  With  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured 
unto  you,"  said  the  Mediator. 

The  progress  of  thought  and  the  experience  of  na- 
tions have  not  carried  us  beyond  the  ethics  of  the 
judgment  scene;  but  they  have  enabled  us  to  see  the 
possibility  of  carrying  out  the  requirements  of 
brotherliness.  Modern  industrial  business  life  was 
unknown  in  Palestine.  The  man  who  had  not  his 
own  business  or  calling  could  rarely  be  helped  except 
by  the  giving  of  alms;  hence,  the  thought  of  charity 
came  to  be  attached  to  all  exhortations  to  help  the 
needy.  Charity  will  always  be  necessary,  but  modern 
society  dares  not  make  it  the  rule  of  helpfulness. 

To  feed  the  population  of  a  city  is  beyond  the  in- 
come of  any  one.  Yet,  he  who  can  establish  a  fac- 
tory, or  a  business,  that  will  enable  folks  to  earn  food 
and  raiment  is  helping  to  solve  the  bread  problem. 
The  Mediator  never  meant  that  charity  should  take 
the  place  of  business  sense  and  thrift:  that  the  world 
should  remain  idle  and  yet  be  fed  and  clothed. 
Charity  is  a  creature  of  emergencies. 

The  Good  Samaritan  did  a  splendid  act  in  minister- 
ing to  the  man  who  fell  among  thieves;  but  who 
would  want  to  continue  the  murderous  iniquity  of 


178         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

that  Jericho  road,  trusting  that  a  Good  Samaritan 
might  come  by  and  care  for  the  wounded?  Modern 
interpretation  would  say:  "  Police  the  Jericho  road, 
and  put  a  stop  to  the  miserable  thieving  and  maim- 
ing." The  same  principle  applies  to  the  supplying  of 
wants  by  charity.  We  shall  not  be  judged  by  what 
we  might  have  done  with  the  opportunities  and  pos- 
sessions of  the  first  century,  but  we  shall  be  held  ac- 
countable for  the  property  and  privileges  of  the  age 
in  which  we  live.  One  of  these  privileges  is  the 
practice  of  the  democracy  of  the  square  deal,  which 
gives  every  man  a  chance  to  earn  a  living. 

The  "  Judgment  Literature  "  shows  that  it  is  es- 
sential to  align  oneself  with  the  work  of  Jesus.  He 
announced  a  program  for  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
called  folks  to  take  up  their  cross  and  follow  Him, 
that  they  might  have  a  part  therein.  This  program 
embraced  the  gospel  of  brotherliness  and  helpfulness. 
Had  His  hearers  accepted  it,  or  left  their  brethren 
shivering,  and  hungry,  and  imprisoned?  His  descrip- 
tion of  the  scene  would  reveal  to  many  of  His  hearers 
the  thoughts  of  their  own  hearts,  and  correct  misap- 
prehensions that  they  may  have  harboured  concern- 
ing the  definiteness  of  these  requirements.  Had  they 
escaped  from  the  spirit  of  spoliation  and  embraced 
that  of  beneficence  ? 

Alignment  with  the  Mediator  means  the  acceptance 
of  His  revelation  of  God  the  Father  as  a  being  of 
love,  who  is  ever  doing  good  both  to  the  just  and  to 
the  unjust.  It  means  the  cutting  out  of  all  limitations 
of  love.    Men  do  well  to  treat  with  kindly  considera- 


ECONOMICS  IN  THE  JUDGMENT  CODE    179 

tion  those  who  accord  them  the  same  treatment. 
However,  if  the  dependent  are  not  grateful,  why  give 
to  them?  If  workman  and  employer  are  not  kind  to 
each  other,  why  not  each  knife  his  antagonist  ?  Does 
God  do  so  ?  Nay ;  "  he  maketh  his  sun  to  shine  upon 
the  just  and  the  unjust."  He  is  absolutely  good.  His 
goodness  does  not  depend  upon  the  whims  or  man- 
ners of  erring  creatures.  If  He  withheld  the  sun- 
shine and  rain  because  of  man's  ingratitude,  we 
should  be  forever  in  Egyptian  darkness  and  desert 
drought.  God  is  love  whether  or  not  men  are  grate- 
ful. 

Alignment  with  the  Mediator  means  the  adjust- 
ment of  our  lives  to  this  conception.  To  admit  the 
universality  of  God's  love,  and  its  unrestricted  out- 
flow to  all,  means  to  democratize  privileges.  Men  ac- 
quire vast  estates  and  pass  the  inheritance  from  gen- 
eration to  generation.  Royal  privileges  and  mon- 
archical titles  remain  to  the  present,  although  the  di- 
vine right  of  kings  was  long  ago  eliminated.  Never 
was  there  a  time  when  men  were  more  anxious  to  cor- 
ner and  monopolize  opportunities  than  at  present. 
However,  the  democracy  of  God  ought  to  be  our  pat- 
tern. This  would  mean  "  the  privilege  of  every  man 
to  get  into  touch  with  the  best  things  a  community 
holds." 

It  further  means  the  acceptance  of  the  great  social 
claims  of  Jesus, — namely,  "  To  secure  justice,  not  to 
make  men  rich."  He  set  forth  the  great  ideal  of  a 
social  justice,  which  is  to  prevail  in  the  world.  The 
mission  of  Christianity  is  to  give  justice,  rather  than 


180         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

to  give  charity.  The  idea  of  doing  justly  appeals  to 
all  classes,  and  is  a  broad  platform  on  which  all  can 
stand  without  humiliation,  or  surrender  of  manhood. 

Jesus  directed  the  privileged  class  to  surrender 
their  privileges  rather  than  to  stand  for  their  rights. 
"  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him  give  to  him  that 
hath  not."  It  is  standing  for  rights — real  or  imagi- 
nary— that  brings  disagreement  and  sorrow,  woe  and 
bloodshed  into  the  world.  Could  men  but  learn  that 
it  is  nobler  to  seek  justice  and  practice  love,  than  to 
contend  for  what  they  may  justly  claim  as  their 
rights,  how  soon  the  kingdom  of  God  would  be  mani- 
fested with  power,  and  how  soon  the  world's  wounds 
would  be  healed !  Then  moral  victory  would  take  the 
place  of  physical  force. 

The  Mediator's  method  of  securing  this  condition 
was  peaceful.  He  did  not  tell  the  proletariat  to  go 
and  take  by  force  what  they  needed  from  those  who 
had  abundance.  He  did  not  tell  them  that  a  starving 
man  has  a  right  to  his  neighbour's  bread.  He  put  it 
up  to  the  privileged  class  to  minister  to  the  less  for- 
tunate. The  desire  to  get  is  so  deep-seated  in  the  hu- 
man heart  that  men  would  be  glad  to  be  told  authori- 
tatively to  go  and  take.  Jesus'  message  to  every  man 
is  according  to  his  moral  needs — not  his  physical  ne- 
cessities. Physically  one  might  need  bread ;  but  to  se- 
cure it  in  a  way  that  would  override  justice  would 
injure  him  morally.  To  supply  the  need  in  a  Chris- 
tian spirit,  either  by  furnishing  employment,  or  by 
charity  in  cases  of  emergency,  would  do  good  morally 
to  both  giver  and  receiver. 


ECONOMICS  IN  THE  JUDGMENT  CODE    181 

Not  to  multiply  essentials  to  Christian  character 
which  will  stand  the  test  of  judgment,  it  remains  only 
to  be  noted  that  testing  is  the  real  function  of  this 
judgment.  To  those  who  first  listened  to  the  words 
of  the  Mediator,  the  portrayal  of  this  scene  would  be 
very  much  like  examination  day  in  school.  Many 
things  had  been  taught.  Now  the  testing  scene  is 
pictured  before  their  eyes;  the  great  judgment  hall 
appears ;  the  very  air  is  made  buoyant  and  all  nations 
are  lifted  to  the  clouds  for  the  final  assizes ;  shadowy 
clouds  cluster  about  the  judgment  throne;  the  august 
assemblage  is  beheld;  the  King  is  seated;  the  people 
are  divided;  a  long  line  of  them  are  placed  upon  the 
King's  right,  and  another  upon  His  left;  then  the 
words,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,"  and  "  De- 
part ye  cursed,"  are  heard.  On  what  basis  are  the 
awards  made?  Have  the  disciples  overlooked  any 
important  part  of  the  Mediator's  plans?  As  this  is 
the  supreme  event  for  which  all  are  preparing,  how 
important  that  they  shall  hear  the  decision  that  will 
help  them  to  correct  any  erroneous  impressions  that 
they  may  have  received!  It  enables  disciples  in  all 
ages  to  antedate  the  judgment  for  themselves,  and 
know  beforehand  what  will  be  the  verdict. 

Here  is  the  supreme  test:  Has  one  manifested  the 
spirit  of  Jesus?  Has  He  been  made  the  Mediator,  by 
allowing  His  principles  to  control's  one's  actions? 
Has  one  cared  for  spiritual  things  first,  and  sought 
souls  as  the  highest  good?  Has  one  so  dealt  as  to 
secure  justice  and  the  square  deal  for  his  neighbour? 
Has  one  been  righteous  economically,  as  well  as  re- 


182         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

ligiously?  Has  one  been  controlled  by  the  Golden 
Rule,  or  by  the  rule  of  gold?  Has  religion  been  a 
life  and  a  practice,  or  only  a  sentiment  and  a  creed? 
Has  it  led  to  the  Christ  spirit  of  kindliness  and  com- 
passion, which  would  suffer  wrong,  and  pain,  and 
loss,  rather  than  inflict  them  upon  others?  Has  the 
sacrificial  element  entered  into  it,  or  is  it  the  passion 
to  get  that  leads  one  to  seek  a  mansion  in  heaven  with 
the  same  spirit  of  covetousness  that  one  seeks  a  cor- 
ner lot  on  earth?  The  social  side  of  it  cannot  be 
overlooked ;  for  it  means  woe  to  every  one  who  profits 
by  the  pains  of  others,  and  unto  every  one  in  whose 
heart  the  spirit  of  Jesus  has  not  been  allowed  to  de- 
velop an  attitude  of  altruistic  helpfulness:  of  right 
personal  relationships. 

To  change  the  figure,  Jehovah  has  a  schedule  for 
running  the  universe,  as  truly  as  a  railroad  system  has 
a  schedule  for  running  its  trains.  This  schedule  in- 
cludes industrial,  economic  and  international  welfare. 
The  Mediator  has  a  place  in  the  schedule,  and  the 
judgment  is  a  part  of  it.  Railroads  suffer  disaster  by 
running  trains  off  schedule.  The  world  is  suffering 
the  throes  of  economic  agony,  due  to  the  ignoring  of 
this  schedule,  which  was  planned  by  infinite  wisdom. 
Its  distress  is  caused  by  its  failure  to  discern  the  media- 
torial office  of  Jesus.  The  judgment  portrays  the 
eternal  wreckage  which  lies  ahead,  unless  the  schedule 
becomes  operative. 


XV 

THE  MEDIATOR'S  REMEDY  FOR  STRIKES 
AND  WAR 

"  If  thy  brother  sin  against  thee,  go,  show  him  his 
fault  between  thee  and  him  alone:  if  he  hear  thee,  thou 
hast  gained  thy  brother.  But  if  he  hear  thee  not,  take 
with  thee  one  or  two  more,  that  at  the  mouth  of  two  wit- 
nesses or  three  every  word  may  be  established.  And  if 
he  refuse  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church:  and  if 
he  refuse  to  hear  the  church,  also,  let  him  be  unto  thee 
as  a  Gentile  and  a  publican." — Matthew  18: 15-17. 

"When  his  disciples  James  and  John  saw  this,  they 
said,  '  Wilt  thou  that  we  bid  fire  come  down  from 
heaven  and  consume  them?'  But  he  turned  and  re- 
buked them." — Luke  9: 54-55. 

HAVING  viewed  the  background  of  Jesus' 
teaching  as  seen  in  the  industrial  and  social 
relations  of  the  Hebrew  people,  His  found- 
ing of  a  new  kingdom  and  some  of  the  principles  of 
its  citizenship,  and  the  spirit  of  that  kingdom  as  ap- 
plied to  social  problems,  we  now  come  to  the  real 
heart  of  the  discussion.  Here  we  shall  see  that  part 
of  Jesus'  code  by  which  all  human  differences  may  be 
settled,  and  to  which  the  former  chapters  have  been 
leading. 

Jesus  makes  reconciliation  one's  first  duty,  even 
placing  it  before  sacrifice  and  worship: 

183 


184         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

"If  thou  art  offering  thy  gift  at  the  altar,  and  there 
rememberest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee, 
leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  thy  way,  first 
be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and  then  come  and  offer 
thy  gift." — Matthew  5: 23-24. 

Reconciliation  should  be  sought  by  both  parties  to 
a  controversy,  but  the  failure  of  one  to  seek  peace 
does  not  relieve  the  other  of  that  duty.  In  Matthew 
18:  15-17  three  steps  are  prescribed: 

First,  go  alone;  next,  take  two  or  three  witnesses; 
then,  tell  it  unto  the  church — the  eMXyeta?,  or 
"  called  out "  congregation.  It  is  quite  suggestive 
that  the  first  mention  of  the  church  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  doubtless  the  only  time  Jesus  ever  mentioned 
it,  is  not  of  a  body  holding  a  certain  ecclesiastical 
creed,  but  is  of  an  organization  whose  office  is  that  of 
mediation:  or  a  channel  through  which  the  Mediator 
may  exercise  His  power  in  maintaining  peace.  In  His 
mind  doubtless  that  was  its  first,  if  not  its  chief,  func- 
tion. Churches  need  an  understanding  of  economic 
matters,  and  should  have  the  confidence  of  both  capi- 
tal and  labour  to  such  an  extent  that  contestants 
would  naturally  turn  to  them  in  cases  of  misunder- 
standing. That  they  are  not  so  chosen  raises  anew 
the  question  of  the  study  of  the  economic  side  of  Je- 
sus' teaching,  the  adoption  of  an  industrial  creed  and 
the  personalizing  of  human  relationship  among  their 
members. 

It  is  said  that  in  a  certain  city  a  strike  of  the  trac- 
tion employees  was  impending.  In  a  revival  meet- 
ing, the  president  of  the  traction  company  and  the 


EEMEDY  FOR  STRIKES  AND  WARS       186 

head  of  the  employees'  organization  were  found 
among  those  who  were  seeking  the  Lord.  A  wise 
pastor  brought  them  together,  and  said:  "  Make  peace 
with  each  other,  if  you  expect  the  peace  of  God  in 
your  souls."  There  was  no  strike.  The  personal 
touch  and  the  Christian  spirit  settled  it  more  advan- 
tageously to  all  parties  than  could  have  been  done  by 
force. 

Jesus'  principles  of  reconciliation  are  applicable  to 
classes  and  nations  as  well  as  to  individuals.  Their 
progress  marks  the  advance  of  civilization.  They 
mean: 

1.  The  abandonment  of  force  as  a  method  of  set- 
tling controversies. 

2.  The  substitution  therefor  of  mediation  by  the 
personalizing  of  relations;  and 

3.  The  giving  of  justice  rather  than  the  standing 
for  rights,  or  administering  of  charity. 

Jesus  says: 

"Resist  not  him  that  is  evil:  but  whosoever  smiteth 
thee  on  the  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also.  And 
if  any  man  would  go  to  law  with  thee,  and  take  away 
thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also.  And  whosoever 
shall  compel  thee  to  go  one  mile  with  him,  go  with  him 
two." — Matthew  5: 39-41. 

This  covers  personal  violence — "if  he  smite  thee;" 
legal  injustice — "  if  he  go  to  law  and  take  thy  coat;  " 
and  oppression  by  the  government — "  compel  thee  to 
go  a  mile  " — as  in  war,  jury  duty,  etc. 

Yet,  Jesus  used  force.     He  drove  the  traders  from 


186         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

the  temple,  but  to  drive  these  rascals  out  was  a  work 
of  love  and  was  essential  to  His  mission.  When  the 
guard  came  to  arrest  Him,  He  put  Himself  between 
the  armed  men  and  His  disciples,  threw  the  guard 
backward  to  the  ground  and  held  them  at  bay  until 
His  disciples  could  escape.  Then  He  declined  to  use 
force  for  His  own  protection.  What  is  the  principle 
involved?     Briefly  stated,  it  is  that 

"  Love  may  use  force ;  selfishness  may  not."  Love 
will  use  it  for  a  beneficent,  selfishness  for  a  baneful, 
purpose. 

It  is  better  to  give  a  highwayman  one's  purse  than 
to  kill  him;  but  if  he  attacks  wife  or  child,  then  only 
the  recreant  or  the  coward  would  fail  to  defend  them. 
This  is  love  using  force  for  the  sake  of  another  and 
not  for  selfish  purposes. 

However,  the  principle  of  non-resistance  does  not 
stand  alone,  as  that  would  leave  us  at  the  mercy  of 
every  desperado.  It  only  prepares  us  for  the  second 
step  in  the  great  plan  of  mediation: 

"  Go  tell  thy  brother  his  fault."  Here  is  concilia- 
tion, and  if  the  spirit  of  the  Mediator  actuates  both 
parties,  reconciliation  is  assured. 

"  If  he  does  not  hear  thee,  take  two  or  three,"  etc. 
Here  is  friendly  mediation,  as  men  inspired  by  the 
purpose  of  the  Mediator  use  their  personal  influence 
to  effect  reconciliation  and  adjustment. 

"  If  he  refuse  to  hear  them,  tell  it  to  the  church." 
To  those  who  recognize  the  authority  of  the  Media- 
tor, that  ought  to  be  the  recognized  channel  through 
which  His  mediatorial  mission  is  administered.     To 


EEMEDY  FOR  STEIKES  AND  WARS       187 

others,  it  may  mean  arbitration,  implying  legal  solu- 
tion in  the  highest  court  of  arbitrament. 

"  If  he  hear  not  the  church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as 
an  heathen,"  i.  e.,  have  no  further  intercourse  with 
him,  but  hold  no  malice  against  him. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  surrender  of  the  right 
to  use  personal  force  as  a  means  of  self-protection  is 
accompanied  by  the  principle  of  appeal  to  the  sense  of 
justice  of  the  wrong-doer  himself,  to  that  of  an  impar- 
tial tribunal,  and  to  that  of  the  community.  It  means 
first  personal  negotiation,  next  friendly  mediation, 
and  finally  an  appeal  to  a  tribunal  which  may  be  inter- 
preted the  church  for  those  to  whom  Jesus  is  a  Medi- 
ator between  men,  and  the  courts  or  other  legal  tri- 
bunals for  those  to  whom  churches  do  not  appeal. 
Protection  is  assured,  justice  will  prevail,  and  one's 
moral  nature  will  not  be  debased  and  his  finer  sensi- 
bilities coarsened  by  resorting  to  force. 

This  will  apply  to  Labour  Controversies.  In  Amer- 
ica, industrial  war  is  a  greater  danger  than  is  war 
with  foreign  countries,  hence  first  place  is  given  to  the 
consideration  of  industrial  interests.  In  the  present 
state  of  industrial  unrest,  if  there  is  a  solution  for 
our  problems,  certainly  all  parties  will  be  glad  to  learn 
of  it.  If  a  messenger  were  to  appear  with  an  infal- 
lible cure,  mills  and  factories  would  stop  to  hear  his 
message.  Will  they  hear  the  heaven-sent  Mediator, 
the  Workman  of  Galilee,  who  presents  Jehovah's 
remedy  ? 

The  labour  problem  is  not  new:  it  has  been  the 
problem  of  the  ages.     It  was  decreed  of  man  that  "  in 


188         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

the  sweat  of  thy  face  thou  shalt  eat  bread."  Soon 
man  began  to  ask,  "  Cannot  I  have  some  one  to  do 
this  work  for  me?"  Then  the  beams  of  prosperity 
so  lighted  the  pathway  of  earth's  favoured  sons  that 
many  were  privileged  to  retire  to  shady  nooks,  where 
they  rested  in  ease  and  earned  their  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  the  hired  man's  brow.  Then  came  slavery, 
serfdom  and  the  long  train  of  evils  growing  out  of 
subjugated  labour. 

That  there  has  been  opposition  to  organized  labour 
is  not  strange.  However,  we  have  passed  beyond  the 
period  when  its  right  to  organize  can  be  questioned. 
It  is  granted  that  capital  must  combine  to  carry  on 
the  great  enterprises  of  to-day.  It  requires  the  capi- 
tal of  many  men  to  carry  on  any  one  of  our  great  in- 
dustries. It  being  dangerous  to  invest  all  one's  capi- 
tal in  one  industry,  men  prefer  to  capitalize  large 
industries  by  issuing  stock  and  thus  distributing  the 
liabilities.  If  capital  thus  has  the  right  to  combine, 
who  shall  deny  to  labour  the  same  privilege?  Capital 
and  labour  working  in  harmony  constitute  the  hand 
that  is  working  out  the  progress  of  civilization. 
Capital  is  as  the  thumb,  labour  as  the  fingers — each 
the  complement  of  the  other.  With  combined  capital 
and  great  corporations,  the  individual  workman  no 
longer  worked  for,  or  with,  the  individual  employer. 
Relations  were  impersonalized  and  the  effect  of  a  hu- 
man interest  in  each  other  was  lost.  The  organiza- 
tion of  labour  became  necessary.  Labour  is  thereby 
protected,  and  conditions  are  better  where  there  is  a 
good,  sane  organization. 


REMEDY  FOE  STRIKES  AND  WARS       189 

But  strikes  and  lockouts  are  too  costly:  they  are  a 
form  of  war.  Granted  that  they  are  "  costly  steps  in 
industrial  development,"  the  question  still  remains, 
Are  they  needful  steps?  Is  there  not  a  better 
way? 

An  incomplete  list  of  direct  losses  from  strikes  in 
one  year  (1919)  placed  the  cost  to  labour  alone  at 
$750,000,000,  and  to  industry  at  more  than  $1,750,- 
000,000.  That  is  approximately  twenty  dollars  for 
every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  country,  or  an 
average  of  one  hundred  dollars  per  family.  That  is 
only  the  direct  loss.  What  has  been  the  loss  to  the 
neutral  public,  the  innocent  third  party?  What  has 
it  added  to  the  high  cost  of  living,  the  inconvenience 
and  in  many  instances  intense  suffering  of  the  people? 
One  of  the  evils  of  the  strike  is  the  utter  disregard  of 
the  rights  of  the  public.  The  right  of  neutrals  is  rec- 
ognized in  war.  Germany's  lack  of  respect  for  these 
rights,  in  such  wanton  acts  as  the  sinking  of  the  Lusi- 
tania,  was  a  large  element  in  the  plunging  of  America 
into  the  World  War.  Shall  a  country  whose  brave 
men  fought  to  establish  the  rights  of  neutrals  in  war 
make  no  provision  for  their  protection  in  time  of 
peace  ? 

Much  of  our  trouble  and  unrest  have  been  due  to 
the  wrong  teaching  of  the  Manchester  school  of  eco- 
nomics. It  is  the  opposite  of  the  ethics  of  the  Medi- 
ator. It  impersonalizes  relations  and  leads  the  capi- 
talist to  ask,  "  Where  can  I  get  labour  cheapest  ?  "  It 
incites  the  workman  to  inquire,  "  How  can  I  get  the 
highest   wage   for   the   least  work  ? "     Jesus   makes 


190         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

service  the  standard  of  greatness,  and  His  spirit  be- 
gets altruism.  Each  is  led  to  ask  not  how  little,  but 
how  much  can  one  do  for  the  other? 

Jesus'  remedy  for  strikes,  lockouts  and  kindred 
trouble  is  first  Conciliation:  talk  it  over  together. 
Often  a  "shop  committee"  can  save  the  situation. 
Speaking  of  unrest,  Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  has  well  said: 

"  The  true  method  is  to  trust  the  truth  and  find  the 
remedy.  Does  a  grievance  exist?  If  it  does  not,  show 
that  it  does  not.  If  it  is  exaggerated,  limit  it  to  the 
facts.  To  the  degree  that  it  exists,  search  for  the  rem- 
edy. If  a  wrong  remedy  is  proposed,  expose  it.  If  the 
remedy  proposed  is  worse  than  the  grievance,  demon- 
strate it." 

The  second  step  is  Friendly  Mediation:  take  two  or 
three  witnesses  not  alone  to  hear  what  is  said,  but  to 
use  their  personal  influence  to  bring  about  an  adjust- 
ment. The  intercession  of  third  parties  has  prevented 
an  untold  number  of  strikes.  The  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion for  the  North  of  England  iron  business  (com- 
posed of  equal  number  of  employers  and  employees) 
for  sixteen  years  settled  all  disputes  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  capital  and  labour. 

The  Mediator's  third  step  provides  for  the  submis- 
sion of  the  matter  in  dispute  to  an  official  tribunal  for 
final  Mediation,  and  if  necessary,  Arbitration.  It 
would  indicate  a  happier  state  of  affairs  if  men  had 
confidence  enough  in  churches  to  choose  them  for 
referees  in  such  matters.  Usually,  if  men  do  not  re- 
sort to  force  they  flee  to  law,  and  the  question  of  tri- 


REMEDY  FOR  STRIKES  AND  WARS       191 

bunals  for  compulsory  arbitration  is  becoming  more 
important  with  each  recurring  strike.  Possibly  some 
form  of  the  "  Court  of  Industrial  Relations,"  as  es- 
tablished in  Kansas,  or  Pennsylvania's  "  Bureau  of 
Mediation,"  will  become  a  necessity.  However,  our 
contention  is  that  if  men  would  make  Jesus  Medi- 
ator by  acting  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  His 
teaching  in  adjusting  these  relations,  no  such  compul- 
sory arbitration  would  be  necessary.  The  establish- 
ing of  right  personal  relations,  rather  than  even  arbi- 
tration, is  a  present  index  finger  pointing  to  the  peace- 
ful and  profitable  solution  of  the  difficulties.  How- 
ever, if  arbitration  be  necessary  to  save  all  parties 
from  the  evils  of  strikes,  to  make  it  effective  it  will 
be  necessary  to  charter  trade  unions  and  recognize 
them  in  law. 

Jesus  enunciated  the  bed-rock  principles  on  which 
economic  success  and  human  happiness  are  founded, 
but  it  requires  the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood  to 
make  His  directions  operative:  to  make  Him  Medi- 
ator by  making  His  principles  the  rule  of  action. 
Men  must  come  to  love  righteousness  above  selfish 
interests.  Then  the  larger  interest  will  arise,  and  in 
the  end  men  will  win  most  by  surrendering  most. 
Where  wrongs  are  suspected,  conciliation  must  take 
the  place  of  suspicion  and  contention  for  one's  rights. 
In  the  larger  prosperity  which  this  will  bring,  all  will 
share.  This  spirit  will  make  Jesus'  method  possible, 
practicable  and  profitable.  To-day  His  method  chal- 
lenges the  world.  Are  we  brave  and  altruistic  enough 
to  give  it  a  fair  and  sympathetic  test? 


192         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

The  Cure  for  War 

Shall  we  have  war  always,  or  shall  the  awful 
World  War  be  the  last  one?  Will  men  and  nations 
learn  that  the  reign  of  Jesus  as  Mediator  would  mean 
money  and  happiness,  as  well  as  righteousness?  In 
only  two  conditions  can  there  be  a  legitimate  use  for 
an  armed  force:  When  there  is  no  law,  and  when  law 
has  been  defied.  An  army  then  becomes  a  police 
force  to  secure  order  and  protect  the  innocent.  The 
horror  and  cost  of  war  need  not  be  dwelt  upon,  since 
they  have  been  so  recently  experienced.  There  are 
better  ways  in  which  to  decide  international  troubles. 
Jesus  can  be  made  Mediator  of  Internationalism,  as 
well  as  of  industrialism.  Apply  His  code  to  differ- 
ences between  nations,  and  we  shall  have  their  solu- 
tion presented  in  three  easy  steps.  Is  it  because  they 
are  so  easy  that  they  have  been  overlooked?  Recall 
Matthew  18:  15-17,  which  presents  the  following 
recipe  for  nations,  as  well  as  individuals: 

First,  Conciliatory  Diplomacy:  talking  it  over. 
Much  has  been  done  already  by  a  sane  diplomacy,  but 
it  remains  to  be  seen  what  can  be  accomplished  when 
the  diplomats  of  the  nations  are  trained  in  the  school 
and  spirit  of  the  Mediator. 

The  second  is  International  Mediation:  taking  two 
or  three  into  the  conference.  There  are  about  two 
hundred  cases  on  record  in  which  England,  France, 
Chile  and  the  United  States  have  thus  settled  disputes, 
many  of  which  otherwise  would  have  led  to  war. 
We  have  made  a  fine  beginning. 

The  third  step  is  Arbitration.      When  diplomacy 


EEMEDY  FOE  STEIKES  AND  WAES       19S 

and  mediation  have  failed,  the  next  action  should  be 
the  submission  of  the  difference  to  an  international 
tribunal,  such  as  "  The  Hague  "  of  pre-war  days,  or  an 
international  court  of  which  a  modified  "  League  of 
Nations"  might  be  the  nucleus.  Treaties  pledging 
the  nations  to  enforce  the  decisions  of  the  tribunal 
might  be  necessary  in  these  unregenerate  days;  but 
with  the  advance  of  civilization,  certainly  armies  and 
navies  will  become  unnecessary  to  enforce  decisions 
based  upon  the  sense  of  justice  which  appeals  to  every 
right  thinking  man.  It  will  require  the  spirit  of  the 
Mediator  to  eliminate  self-seeking  from  such  deci- 
sions, and  to  permeate  them  with  Christian  ethics. 

Without  such  recognized  authority  as  could  be 
given  to  Jesus  as  Mediator,  there  is  very  great  danger 
in  power,  whether  it  be  financial,  social,  political,  or 
military.  Outside  of  its  legitimate  use,  power  will 
bring  its  own  destruction.  German  imperialism  has 
again  demonstrated  that  "they  that  take  the  sword 
shall  perish  with  the  sword."  The  religion  that  does 
not  enthrone  Jesus  as  Mediator  between  men  cannot 
attain  the  highest  success.  It  may  minister  power 
and  beget  numbers ;  it  may  bring  the  success  pictured 
in  the  parable  of  the  Mustard  Tree,  by  its  growth  and 
expansion;  but  it  can  never  bring  the  success  of  con- 
quered affections  and  transformed  character  which 
are  pictured  in  the  parable  of  the  Leaven.  For  sym- 
metrical development,  we  need  both.  A  new  heart  is 
the  only  dependable  basis  for  Christian  ethics.  One 
may  be  a  Mohammedan  or  a  Hindu  and  separate  his 
morals  from  his  religion ;  but  not  so  with  heart  Chris- 


194         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

tianity:  with  it,  conscience  enthrones  the  Mediator. 
Under  a  merely  ritualistic  religion,  war  is  entirely 
possible;  but  the  evangelism  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  the  ethics  of  Jesus,  present  an  entirely  different 
vision. 

The  rivers  of  blood  that  have  deluged  Europe,  the 
devastated  countries,  the  ruined  cities,  the  broken 
hearts  and  stricken  homes,  the  impoverished  national 
treasuries  and  prostrated  industries,  the  honour  of  the 
Master  and  the  welfare  of  mankind — all  unite  in  call- 
ing with  tongues  of  fire  for  a  reexamination  of  the 
type  of  theology  and  Biblical  interpretation  that  could 
make  such  carnage  possible  by  the  most  enlightened 
and  civilized  nations  of  the  earth! 

And  yet,  however  devoutly  hoped  for  may  be  such 
a  consummation,  the  developments  of  the  early  years 
following  the  armistice  indicate  that  if  there  is  not 
some  tribunal  to  function  upon  national  disputes,  and 
curb  covetous  aspirations,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Media- 
tor, instead  of  Europe  passing  Jnto  a  long  period  of 
great  peace  as  a  result  of  the  World  War,  there  will 
no  longer  be  even  the  peace  of  great  alliances.  Inter- 
national duels  loom  large  upon  the  political  horizon, 
as  new  nations  try  to  find  their  normal  adjustments, 
and  older  ones  attempt  to  settle  their  war  debts  and 
adjust  the  industrial  problems  to  which  the  war  gave 
rise. 

Whether  the  world  shall  be  engulfed  in  the  hell  of 
war,  or  illuminated  by  the  halo  of  peace,  depends 
upon  its  attitude  toward  God's  remedy  for  all  human 
differences. 


XVI 

REJECTION,  CRUCIFIXION,  DESTRUCTION 

"And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Seest  thou  these  great 
buildings?  There  shall  not  be  left  there  one  stone  upon 
another,  which  shall  not  be  thrown  down." — Mark  13:  2a 

"And  when  they  came  to  the  place  which  is  called  The 
Skull,  there  they  crucified  him." — Luke  23:33. 

AFTER  having  given  directions  for  the  settling 
of  all  human  differences,  and  the  ending  of 
murderous  class  struggles;  and  foreseeing 
that  His  message  would  not  be  accepted  by  the  Jews, 
Jesus  instructed  His  followers  concerning  their  escape 
from  Jerusalem  when  the  hour  of  her  overthrow,  and 
that  of  the  nation,  should  come.  His  was  the  only 
remedy  for  the  bitter  class  struggles  that  was  con- 
suming the  people.  Its  rejection  meant  His  cruci- 
fixion and  the  downfall  of  the  Hebrew  common- 
wealth. 

We  have  seen  that  the  regime  of  the  Mediator 
meant  a  social  and  industrial  reconstruction  that  is 
world-wide  in  its  scope.  "  This  gospel  must  be 
preached  to  all  nations;  then  shall  the  end  be."  It 
was  necessary  that  Jerusalem  should  stand  until  the 
messengers  of  the  cross  should  radiate  from  that  cen- 
ter and  thread  the  highways  of  the  nations,  forming 
new  centers  for  their  missionary  operations,  as  was 

I9S 


196         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

done  when  the  activities  were  transferred  from  the 
Church  in  Jerusalem  to  that  of  Antioch. 

Jesus  came  to  His  own,  asking  that  they  become  co- 
workers in  the  extension  of  the  new  order,  but  His 
own  received  Him  not.  To  those  who  did  receive 
Him,  He  imparted  power  to  become  sons  of  God,  but 
"  his  own "  did  not  appreciate  that  power.  They 
preferred  rather  the  ease  and  gratification  that  the 
existing  order  made  possible,  and  which  prevented 
brotherly  cooperation. 

When  but  twelve  years  of  age,  Jesus  stood  among 
the  doctors  and  lawyers  of  the  capital  city,  hearing 
and  asking  them  questions.  Eighteen  years  later, 
when  He  came  to  call  His  disciples,  the  memory  of 
their  answers  would  assure  Him  that  in  Jerusalem  He 
could  not  find  the  democratic  spirit  and  teachable 
mind  essential  to  His  mission.  Self-seeking,  arro- 
gance, and  the  spirit  of  rivalry  among  the  various 
sects  and  cliques  overran  the  city.  The  pursuit  of 
revenue,  and  the  prejudices  that  anchored  them  to  the 
religious  notions  of  the  past,  made  of  their  states- 
men and  philosophers  but  blind  guides.  The  exploit- 
ing of  the  common  people  by  the  privileged  classes, 
with  the  tyranny  that  prevailed  in  the  government 
by  Rome,  were  so  exactly  the  opposite  of  the  free 
spirit  of  Jesus'  Gospel  that  there  could  be  but  little  in 
common  between  Him  and  the  ruling  element  in  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  consequently  He  turned  to  the  more  demo- 
cratic district  of  Galilee,  and  called  His  immediate 
followers  from  there,  meeting  a  much  heartier  re- 
sponse. 


REJECTION,  CRUCIFIXION,  DESTRUCTION  197 

But  coming  to  save,  and  not  to  destroy,  the  Medi- 
ator desired  to  save  Jerusalem.  He  severely  de- 
nounced the  hypocrisy  and  injustice  of  the  leaders  of 
the  city  government,  declaring  their  sins  of  oppres- 
sion had  grown  until  they  were  "  full  from  extortion 
and  excesses."  He  pointed  out  their  crimes  and  im- 
penitence, declaring  that  they  had  become  as  "ser- 
pents," and  "  offspring  of  vipers,"  and  then  gave  vent 
to  this  bitter  lamentation: 

"O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  that  killeth  the  prophets 
and  stoneth  them  that  are  sent  unto  her!  how  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a 
hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye 
would  not!  Behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  deso- 
late."— Matthew  23: 37-38. 

It  was  true  then,  as  ever,  that  the  misfortune  of  the 
masses  is  their  inability  to  unite.  That  they  do  not 
hang  together  is  a  reason  why  they  have  so  often 
hung  separately.  Jesus  knew  the  result  of  class  crises 
and  declared  that  "  a  house  divided  against  itself  can- 
not stand."  The  Jews  of  His  day  were  notorious  for 
strife  and  factional  contention.  They  were  quarrel- 
some, loved  litigation  and  were  easily  led  into  war- 
ring cliques.  Indeed,  Jerusalem  fell  not  so  much  be- 
cause of  the  enemy  entrenched  without  the  city  as 
through  the  murderous  strife  within  its  walls.  The 
factional  struggle  of  the  Jews  themselves  made  the 
task  of  Titus  easy.  Josephus,  their  own  historian, 
said: 

"This  internal  sedition  did  not  cease  when  the  Ro- 
mans were  encamped  near  the  city  walls.    But  although 


198         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

they  had  grown  wiser  by  the  fierce  onslaught  the  Ro- 
mans had  made  on  them,  this  lasted  but  a  while;  for 
they  returned  to  their  former  madness  and  separation 
from  one  another,  and  fought  it  out." 

Such  struggle  Jesus  had  sought  to  prevent  by  unit- 
ing the  masses.  In  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  He 
approached  the  people  with  words  of  compliment  and 
cheer,  pointing  out  wherein  they  were  blessed  and  in 
what  happiness  consists.  Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit,  the  mourners,  the  meek,  the  ones  who  hunger 
for  righteousness,  the  merciful,  the  pure  in  heart,  the 
peacemakers  and  the  persecuted;  but  the  nation's 
leaders  cared  for  none  of  these  things,  and  under- 
stood neither  the  letter  nor  the  spirit  of  His  teach- 
ing. 

To  have  carried  out  the  spirit  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  would  have  obliterated  class  struggle  and 
brought  in  an  era  of  brotherly  love  and  confidence. 
It  would  have  made  Jesus  Mediator  and  His  code 
would  have  settled  the  differences.  It  would  have 
won  its  way  in  Galilee,  changed  the  heart  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  converted  its  covetous  cliques  from  their  in- 
iquitous practices.  A  fair  trial  was  given,  but  His 
Gospel  of  emancipation  was  so  diametrically  opposed 
to  the  spirit  and  practice  which  prevailed  in  the  capital 
city  that  instead  of  seeking  deliverance,  the  leaders 
planned  the  death  of  the  Deliverer. 

When  all  efforts  to  save  the  city  and  nation  had 
proved  unavailing,  knowing  the  consequences  that 
must  follow,  Jesus  gave  His  followers  directions  for 
their  own  conduct  and  safety  during  the  awful  ordeal 


BEJECTION,  CEUCIFIXION,  DESTEUCTION  199 

through  which  they  must  pass.  If  the  city  and  na- 
tion could  not  be  saved  and  made  a  power  for  right- 
eousness, His  individual  followers  should  not  be  slain. 
He  said  of  the  city: 

"  The  days  shall  come  upon  thee  when  thine  enemies 
shall  cast  up  a  bank  about  thee,  and  compass  thee  round, 
and  keep  thee  in  on  every  side,  and  shall  dash  thee  to  the 
ground  and  thy  children  with  thee;  they  shall  not  leave 
one  stone  upon  another :  because  thou  knowest  not  the  day 
of  thy  visitation."— Luke  19:  43~44- 

Less  than  forty  years  after  these  words  were 
spoken,  the  prophecy  was  literally  fulfilled.  The  Ro- 
man armies  under  Titus  spared  not  even  the  magnifi- 
cent temple.  There  was  "  tribulation  such  as  had  not 
been  from  the  beginning  of  the  world." 

The  synoptic  Gospels  (written  perhaps  shortly  be- 
fore the  event)  record  the  warning  words  of  Jesus. 
He  told  them  of  the  coming  of  false  messiahs.  In 
the  parable  of  the  Fig  Tree,  He  told  how  they  might 
discern  the  signs  of  the  times;  in  startling  and  splen- 
did imagery  He  described  the  event,  and  in  the  par- 
able of  the  Faithful  and  Wise  Servant  He  predicted 
that  the  evil  ones  would  continue  to  beat  and  cruelly 
entreat  their  fellow-servants,  even  with  the  shadows 
of  destruction  upon  their  walls.  Without  His  spirit, 
strife  would  continue  and  hasten  the  end.  However, 
His  followers  would  have  an  opportunity  to  flee  to 
the  mountains.     Eusebius  wrote: 

"At  the  siege  of  Titus,  the  apostles  had  gone  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  all  nations,  and  the  people  (the 
laity)   of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem,  in  accordance  with 


200         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

certain  divine  communications  given  by  revelations  be- 
fore the  war,  removed  and  dwelt  in  a  city  of  Perea 
named  Pella." 

Other  writers  support  this  statement.  During  the 
siege,  Titus  allowed  many  of  the  Jews  to  withdraw. 
After  the  affair  of  Certius,  66  a.  d.,  tired  of  the  war- 
ring factions  and  class  struggle,  Josephus  says, 
"  Many  of  the  distinguished  Jews  left  the  city,  as  if 
swimming  from  a  sinking  ship." 

The  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  Matthew,  the  thir- 
teenth of  Mark  and  the  twenty-first  of  Luke  were 
given  for  warning  and  guidance  in  the  dark  days  of 
the  siege,  rather  than  predictions  of  future  catas- 
trophes. 

The  overthrow  of  the  city  is  spoken  of  as  the  com- 
ing of  Jesus,  since  it  meant  the  beginning  of  His  king- 
dom in  the  application  of  its  principles  to  the  affairs 
of  men — a  new  social  order  in  which  dwelleth  right- 
eousness, not  exploitation.  So  persistently  did  Judea- 
ism  dog  the  steps  of  the  early  Christian  missionaries 
that  the  overthrow  of  the  city  became  necessary,  that 
one  of  the  barriers  to  the  progress  of  the  kingdom 
might  be  removed.  Such  a  sad  necessity  was  this, 
that  Jesus  showed  His  disciples  that  when  not  one 
stone  in  the  temple  was  left  upon  another,  He  would 
be  present  in  the  midst  of  the  overthrow,  caring  for 
His  own. 

Many  earnest  and  timid  souls  have  read  into  Jesus' 
prophecy  of  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem  a  prediction 
of  the  "  end  of  the  world."  A  careful  study  of  the 
passages  from  the  economic  point  of  view  will  fail  to 


REJECTION,  CRUCIFIXION,  DESTRUCTION  201 

show  any  such  meaning.  By  "  the  world  "  Jesus  did 
not  mean  the  physical  universe,  or  the  earth  on  which 
we  live,  but  the  unholy  lives  and  practices  of  the  peo- 
ple. In  other  words,  the  unjust  and  unsanctified  cus- 
toms and  habits  that  prevailed  in  the  "  system  "  is 
rather  the  meaning.  From  this  one  must  turn  away 
to  be  His  follower.  "  Mammon  "  is  perhaps  the  one 
word  that  best  expresses  His  meaning.  The  end  of 
the  world  (literally  "  the  end  of  the  age  ")  meant  the 
overthrow  of  the  iniquitous  and  anti-Christian  systems 
that  characterized  that  age,  that  they  might  make  way 
for  the  coming  of  the  new  kingdom  of  brotherhood 
and  human  progress. 

Neither  does  His  "coming"  as  here  mentioned 
necessarily  mean  His  return  in  bodily  form.  The 
Greek  word  which  is  translated  "coming"  (parousia) 
in  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  Matthew  means 
"presence."  In  Second  Corinthians  (10:10)  it  is 
used  to  indicate  Paul's  bodily  presence,  and  in  Philip- 
pians  it  is  twice  used  with  the  same  meaning.  Doubt- 
less the  translation  in  Matthew  has  been  influenced  by 
the  belief  that  Jesus  was  here  prophesying  the  end  of 
the  world  and  His  bodily  return  to  earth.  If  so,  He 
must  appear  not  simply  as  "  present,"  but  as  "  com- 
ing "—having  gone  away  and  returned.  This  mean- 
ing would  necessitate  our  still  looking  forward  to  a 
future  event,  after  a  lapse  of  two  thousand  years ;  but 
He  put  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  in  the  very 
near  future,  stating  with  emphasis  that  "  this  genera- 
tion shall  not  pass  away  until  all  these  things  be  ac- 
complished." 


202         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

But  will  Jesus  not  return?  Certainly  He  will;  but 
space  does  not  permit  the  discussion  of  that  question. 
The  point  now  at  issue  is  that  in  these  chapters  (Mat- 
thew 24,  Mark  13,  Luke  21)  He  is  confining  His 
statements  to  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  and  not 
predicting  His  bodily  coming  at  a  distant  time.  It  is 
His  presence  that  is  here  promised,  as  elsewhere, 
when  He  says:  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always";  and 
"  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I  in  their  midst."  Here  it  is  prom- 
ised that  in  suffering  such  as  the  world  had  never 
seen,  He  would  be  with  His  followers,  and  would 
turn  every  catastrophe  to  the  advantage  of  His  cause. 
His  presence  here  is  in  His  "  messianic  power,"  in  the 
establishing  of  His  kingdom  and  in  His  reign  in 
righteousness. 

What  of  the  prediction  that  "  as  it  was  in  the  days 
of  Noah,  so  shall  it  be,"  and  that  of  "  two  men  in  the 
field  one  shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left "  and  the 
two  women  at  the  mill?  The  days  of  Noah  were 
days  of  hardship  and  destruction  to  the  impenitent. 
So  it  was  here.  Class  struggle  was  ministering  to 
destruction  within  the  city,  and  Roman  slavery  was 
operating  everywhere  that  Roman  arms  forced  sub- 
mission. Slave  dealers  followed  the  army,  and  when 
there  was  no  longer  property  to  confiscate,  slaves 
were  the  most  profitable  source  of  revenue. 

Being  reminded  of  this  practice,  we  are  prepared 
for  the  statement  that  when  "  one  was  taken  and  an- 
other left,"  it  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  one  was 
caught  up  to  the  battlements  of  heaven,  while  the 


REJECTION,  CRUCIFIXION,  DESTRUCTION  203 

other  was  left  to  battle  with  the  elements  of  evil  here 
below.  No,  the  prophecy  was  much  more  cruel  in  its 
fulfillment.  When  Noah  entered  the  ark,  impenitent 
folks  were  cut  off  by  the  flood;  but  here,  those  who 
failed  to  take  warning  and  flee  to  the  mountains,  or 
hide  upon  the  housetops  or  in  the  fields,  had  a  still 
more  dreadful  fate  in  store  for  themselves.  At  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem,  more  than  a  hundred  thousand 
Jews  were  sold  into  slavery.  The  slave  hunter  would 
find  two  men  working  in  the  field:  the  younger,  more 
capable  and  higher-priced  man  would  be  taken,  the 
other  left.  Of  two  women  grinding  at  a  mill,  pos- 
sibly a  mother  and  daughter  or  daughter-in-law,  the 
younger  woman,  for  whom  there  was  a  demand  in  the 
slave  market,  would  be  taken  and  the  elder  left. 

Of  the  hundred  thousand  slaves  deported  upon  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem,  many  were  sent  into  the  mines  of 
Egypt,  most  of  the  warring,  high-spirited  Jews  being 
too  savage  to  make  good  slaves.  Already  slave- 
holders in  Italy  were  trembling  with  fear,  lest  their 
bondmen  should  arise  and  slay  them.  When  they 
understood  the  wild,  tameless  disposition  to  which 
their  intense  suffering  had  hardened  large  numbers 
of  these  Hebrews,  they  dared  not  bring  them  into 
Rome.  Numbers  of  those  who  were  brought  into 
Italy  were  sought  out  for  immolation  in  the  bloody 
spectacles  of  the  times,  and  thousands  of  them  per- 
ished to  make  Rome  a  holiday.  Such  was  the  pain- 
ful ending  of  many  of  those  who  were  "  taken,"  while 
others  were  left  to  endure  untold  hardships  and  death. 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  downfall  of 


204         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

the  nation,  were  the  natural  ripening  of  the  seeds  of 
discord  that  had  been  sown,  and  the  rejection  of  Je- 
sus' plans  for  their  salvation.  Such  a  spirit  spells 
destruction  in  any  land  in  which  classes  and  cliques 
war  with  each  other.  When  Jesus  and  His  Gospel 
were  rejected,  the  last  bright  page  of  Hebrew  history 
was  written. 

There  remains  one  other  illustration  of  the  murder- 
ous folly  of  rejecting  the  Mediator's  remedy  for  eco- 
nomic evils  and  spiritual  death: 

Class  struggle  is  seen  in  His  arrest  and  crucifixion. 
The  fact  that  His  death  was  in  accordance  with  the 
plans  of  God  for  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  no 
means  lessens  the  guilt  of  those  who  put  Him  to 
death,  nor  disproves  the  fact  that  the  immediate  cause 
'  of  His  death  was  the  enmity  of  the  privileged  classes. 
J-^r"e  forces  by  which  He  was  arrested  show  the  class 
stru8t^le.  There  were  soldiers  and  also  "  chief  priests 
and  ca^-^jjjg  0f  faQ  temple,  and  scribes."  It  was  the 
temple  ci  pwd,  whose  money  tables  Jesus  had  over- 
turned, ana  t  tjje  seuers  0f  whose  sheep  and  oxen  He 
had  driven  o^ut  They  wouid  crucify  an  innocent 
man  rather  thai  ^  give  up  their  monopoiy  on  the  }n_ 
come  of  religion.  ,  It  h  gaid  that  they  sold  as  many  ag 
130,000  sheep  at  oft  festival;  if  so>  wnosoever  would 
interfere  with  so  pro  >sperous  a  bllsiness  was  guilty  of 
causing  a  "  restraint  o ..f  tra(k/,  and  needed  to  be  got_ 
ten  out  of  the  way.  1^  temple  guard  gaye  them  a 
sufficient  force  to  carry  o\  t  thdr  designs>  especially  ;f 
the  matter  could  be  closed,  during  the  quiet  hours  of 
the  night. 


REJECTION,  CRUCIFIXION,  DESTRUCTION  205 

The  hurried  assembling  of  the  Sanhedrin  is  another 
indication  of  the  extent  and  thoroughness  of  their 
murderous  plans.  The  members  seem  to  have  been 
waiting,  in  readiness  for  action,  and  with  the  trend 
of  their  decision  fully  determined.  The  witnesses 
were  ready,  and  soon  the  formality  of  a  vote  gave  ex- 
pression to  the  already  formed  verdict. 

Very  early  He  was  hurried  away  to  Pilate's  court, 
before  the  common  people  could  know  of  His  appre- 
hension. There  a  packed  crowd  was  assembled,  and 
many  were  ready  to  cry  out,  "Crucify  him;  crucify 
him !  "  So  strong  and  well-organized  was  the  oppo- 
sition that  by  sheer  force  they  stampeded  the  feeble 
resistance  of  Pilate,  and  secured  the  desired  verdict. 
This  multitude  that  thronged  the  court  of  Pilate  must 
not  be  confused  with  the  "  common  people  who  heard 
him  gladly,"  and  looked  to  Him  as  their  possible  De- 
liverer. This  multitude  was  made  up  of  the  irre- 
sponsible rabble  that  is  ever  at  the  disposal  of  the 
ruling  set.  "  The  chief  priests  stirred  up  the  multi- 
tude," i.  e.,  the  vast  throng  of  "  heelers  "  who  were 
obedient  to  that  treacherous  triumvirate  of  the  temple 
— the  chief  priests,  scribes  and  "  rulers."  It  was  a 
weak  and  vacillating  crowd  that  became  willing  tools 
in  iniquitous  hands. 

We  are  not  justified  in  inferring  that  the  friends  of 
Jesus  had  forsaken  Him.  Judas  was  bribed  to  de- 
liver Him  at  night,  and  the  arrest  was  made  while  all 
but  His  immediate  followers  were  wrapped  in  slum- 
bers. The  final  conviction  before  Pilate  was  hurried 
through  before  they  had  a  chance  to  intervene  or  even 


206         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

register  a  protest.  The  dense  Pilate  could  perceive  that 
"  it  was  for  envy  that  they  had  delivered  him  " — that 
it  was  a  class  struggle,  in  which  the  temple  rulers  were 
pitting  themselves  against  the  Mediator  of  Peace. 

However,  in  the  midst  of  all  class  struggles,  Jesus 
remained  true  to  His  own  ideals.  He  was  not  a  par- 
tisan leader,  but  was  actuated  by  principles  as  broad 
as  humanity  and  as  deep  as  divinity,  a  course  which 
was  necessary  to  fit  Him  for  the  position  of  the 
world's  Mediator.  His  mission  was  ever  before 
Him,  and  even  the  shadow  of  the  cross  could  not  turn 
Him  from  it.  In  fact,  He  saw  the  cross  as  a  means 
by  which  that  mission  was  to  be  accomplished.  While 
the  immediate  cause  of  His  death  was  the  crisis  be- 
tween His  philosophy  of  life  and  that  of  the  ruling 
classes,  nevertheless  He  had  a  mission  far  beyond  that 
of  being  the  champion  of  a  class:  it  was  to  eliminate 
classes  and  make  all  one  in  Him.  The  cross  was  but 
a  means  of  attaining  that  end,  and  restoring  right 
personal  relationships. 

In  this  mission  of  the  Mediator,  the  supremacy  of 
the  spiritual  over  the  material  stands  out  in  the  fore- 
ground, and  moral  forces  are  seen  to  be  superior  to 
physical  power. 

"  There  is  a  fire 
And  motion  of  the  soul  which  will  not  dwell 
In  its  own  narrow  being,  but  aspire 
Beyond  the  fitting  medium  of  desire; 
And  but  once  kindled,  quenchless  evermore, 
Preys  upon  high  adventure,  nor  can  tire 
Of  aught  but  rest;  a  fever  at  the  core, 
Fatal  to  him  who  bears,  to  all  who  ever  bore  " — 


REJECTION,  CRUCIFIXION,  DESTRUCTION  207 

and  yet,  consecration  is  the  price  of  conquest  that 
ends  in  victory. 

The  crucifixion  of  Jesus  stands  out  above  any  mere 
class  triumph  or  defeat,  as  high  as  the  heavens  above 
the  earth.  It  is  the  sublimest  transaction  that  ever 
occurred  in  all  of  God's  universe.  It  is  the  real  cen- 
ter of  the  great  atonement  by  which  men  are  re- 
deemed from  the  curse  and  bondage  of  sin,  spiritu- 
ally, socially  and  economically.  Without  the  atoning 
power  of  Jesus'  death,  no  permanent  betterment  could 
be  expected.  This  is  as  true  economically  as  spiritu- 
ally. 

The  atonement  has  an  economic  significance.  The 
code  of  the  Mediator  was  vitalized  by  His  sacrificial 
death.  His  suffering  was  vicarious:  it  was  for  others 
and  not  for  any  sin  of  His  own.  Love-suffering  is  a 
part  of  God's  plan  for  the  progress  of  the  race  and 
the  saving  of  mankind.  Jesus  bowed  in  deference  to 
the  great  law  of  sacrifice.  It  was  to  secure  the  reign 
of  God  in  the  world,  and  the  salvation  of  men  through 
that  reign.  In  these  modern  days  we  need  to  put  the 
emphasis  on  the  atonement,  but  not  to  grow  narrow 
in  our  views  concerning  it.  Atonement  is  a  law — not 
an  accident,  not  an  incident,  and  certainly  not  an 
after-thought  of  God's  to  remedy  an  evil.  It  was 
sublimely  set  forth  at  Calvary,  but  it  did  not  end 
there.  It  is  a  continuous  factor  in  life — an  "  eternal 
energy  of  God  "  driving  the  noblest  souls  of  earth  to 
higher  achievement  for  their  fellow  creatures. 

The  law  of  the  atonement  is  working  in  the  social 
and  industrial  evolution.     It  is  the  only  hope  of  the 


208         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

world's  salvation,  socially,  politically  and  religiously. 
Of  course  none  else  could  make  the  atonement  for 
others  which  Jesus  made,  but  what  was  laid  upon 
Him  is  laid  upon  every  man  to  the  extent  of  that 
man's  ability.  Social  pain  is  essential  to  social  salva- 
tion, and  it  is  only  when  the  strong  are  willing  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  the  weak  that  true  social  progress  is 
made.  Then  it  is  that  cliques  and  classes  melt  into 
brotherhoods  and  the  eternal  principles  of  love  gain 
control. 

Calvary  must  be  seen  as  a  field,  where  men  are 
taught  how  to  redeem  the  world.  It  is  an  affliction 
and  a  shame  that  men  have  been  content  to  paint  there 
a  suffering  Saviour,  and  sit  down  peaceful  and  serene 
in  His  agony.  Oh,  for  the  larger  vision !  "  Love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself,"  said  the  Jew.  "  Love  one  an- 
other as  I  have  loved  you,"  said  Jesus.  To  reach  the 
requirements  of  Hebrew  law  one  needs  to  climb  be- 
yond ordinary  human  altitude,  but  dare  a  Christian 
rest  until  he  has  attained  the  dizzy  heights  set  by 
Jesus  ?  To  "  love  as  I  have  loved  you,"  means  to 
love  at  any  cost,  even  that  of  a  painful  death.  It  re- 
quires a  sacrificial  life  every  day. 

Over  against  this  example  and  requirement  of 
Jesus  stands  the  world-spirit  of  selfishness.  It  has 
been  well  said  that  "  The  law  of  selfishness  is  the  eter- 
nal falsehood  which  mothers  all  social  woes."  Self- 
ishness is  too  largely  master  of  trade  and  king  of 
society.  Against  this  selfishness  the  world's  best 
thinkers  have  entered  protest,  in  keeping  with  the 
spirit  of  God's  Mediator.     Carlyle  said:  "It  is  only 


REJECTION,  CRUCIFIXION,  DESTRUCTION  209 

with  renunciations  that  life,  properly  speaking,  can 
begin,"  and  "  in  a  valiant  suffering  for  others,  not  in 
a  slothful  making  others  suffer  for  us,  did  nobleness 
ever  lie."  George  Sands  said:  "There  is  only  one 
sole  virtue  in  the  world — the  eternal  sacrifice  of  self." 
Hear  Emerson,  also:  "A  man  was  not  born  for  pros- 
perity, but  to  suffer  for  the  benefit  of  others." 

As  class  struggle,  born  of  selfishness,  crucified  the 
Saviour  and  overthrew  its  country,  so  will  it  crucify 
the  highest  interests  of  humanity,  and  overthrow  the 
governments  of  the  world,  unless  conquered  and  sub- 
dued by  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  and  identity  of  in- 
terests, as  taught  by  Jesus.  Herein  is  seen  America's 
danger,  and  in  the  code  of  the  Mediator  is  seen  our 
hope. 

If  society  is  to  be  saved,  and  the  industrial  system 
redeemed  from  its  blight  and  curse,  men  and  women 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Christ  must  carry  forward 
this  work.  Every  step  will  be  love-suffering  ex- 
pressed in  service.  This  is  the  meaning  of  Calvary, 
and  the  call  of  God.  There  is  no  other  way.  The 
law  of  redemption  is  as  inflexible  and  unalterable  as 
the  law  of  gravitation.  The  success  of  its  application 
has  been  well  set  forth  in  the  couplet: 

"  Toil  as  new  Calvaries  ever 
With  the  cross  that  turns  not  back." 


XVII 

AN   IMPERIALIZED   DEMOCRACY 

"  I  am  become  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I  may  by  all 
means  save  some.  And  I  do  all  things  for  the  gospel's 
sake,  that  I  may  be  a  joint  partaker  thereof." — Paul. 

"  Other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this  fold." 

— Jesus. 

"  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  but  are  not 
able  to  kill  the  soul;  but  rather  fear  him  who  is  able  to 
destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  gehenna." — Jesus. 

AN  adequate  discussion  of  the  causes  which  led 
to  the  deflection  of  the  democracy  of  Jesus 
would  require  a  volume  in  itself.  Only  the 
barest  outline  can  be  given  here.  Vocal  messages 
carried  Jesus'  teaching,  as  the  early  missionaries  went 
from  city  to  city.  The  literary  media  through  which 
His  code  took  a  doctrinal  form  were  largely  the  writ- 
ings of  Paul  and  John.  To  Paul  belongs  the  sys- 
tematized statements,  as  seen  in  his  Letter  to  the 
Romans. 

Paul's  task  was  to  set  forth  the  plan  of  redemption, 
and  in  it  make  clear  to  the  Gentile  world  that  Jehovah 
is  the  only  true  God,  and  is  the  Father  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  manifestation 
of  God,  in  applying  the  efficacy  of  redemption.  To 
make  a  complete  doctrinal  system,  this  conception  of 
deity  must  be  its  very  foundation.     Folks  thought  in 

2IO 


AN  IMPERIALIZED  DEMOCRACY  211 

terms  of  monarchy.  An  absolute  monarch  ruling  a 
country  was  so  familiar  to  people  that  the  possibility 
and  characteristics  of  such  a  being  could  be  under- 
stood. To  present  Jehovah  as  the  Ruler  of  the  uni- 
verse was  to  use  terms  that  could  be  understood,  and 
to  awaken  a  fear  and  respect  that  would  secure  closest 
attention  to  His  message.  He,  therefore,  presented 
God  as  the  great  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  and 
drew  certain  lessons  from  this  sovereignty.  To  the 
theologian,  it  is  the  doctrine  of  election  and  foreordi- 
nation;  to  the  statesman,  it  is  the  doctrine  of  mon- 
archy applied  to  the  science  of  government;  to  the 
economist,  it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  "  Overman  "  in 
business  and  industry.  The  world  was  not  ready  for 
the  democracy  of  the  Mediator,  and  to  have  attacked 
slavery  and  other  forms  of  Rome's  revenue  would 
have  spelled  failure  to  the  new  religion.  The  effect 
of  such  teaching  was  two-fold: 

Christianity  became  more  acceptable  to  Rome,  and 
consequently,  Paul  enjoyed  larger  liberty  in  preaching 
it,  had  freer  access  to  those  to  whom  he  wished  to 
carry  the  message,  and  there  was  little,  if  any,  censor- 
ing of  his  letters. 

A  second  effect  was  that  his  philosophy  of  redemp- 
tion became  more  understandable.  To  Jesus,  God  is 
love,  and  His  relation  is  that  of  the  father  to  the  fam- 
ily. To  Paul,  thinking  in  the  terms  of  monarchy,  He 
is  the  great  Monarch  of  the  universe.  However,  it  has 
taken  twenty  centuries  of  development  to  enable  folks 
to  but  partially  understand  the  doctrine  of  the  divine 
immanence,  which  science  rather  than  theology  has 


212         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

brought  to  us.  Still  the  Divine  Being,  by  very  many, 
is  regarded  as  an  absentee  God,  who  has  set  the  uni- 
verse going  as  a  clockmaker  starts  his  timepiece,  and 
interferes  only  when  it  needs  repairs.  Realizing  His 
"  everywhereness,"  it  is  still  difficult  for  us  to  under- 
stand that  in  the  realm  of  grace  God  does  not  rule 
over  men,  but  rules  through  them.  Is  it  strange  then 
that  Paul  found  it  necessary  to  present  Him  in  terms 
of  monarchy,  rather  than  in  the  terms  of  free,  repub- 
lican democracy,  which  are  so  abundant  in  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Mediator?  Jesus'  teaching  is  fundamen- 
tal, and  its  principles  are  controlling  forces  for  all 
ages;  Paul's  task  was  to  interpret  Him  to  the  mon- 
archical age  in  which  he  lived,  as  far  as  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  age  enabled  him  to  do  so. 

Lowell  has  well  said :  "  The  Bible  is  the  most  in- 
flammatory book  that  could  be  circulated  among  a 
servile  people."  Paul,  with  the  early  disciples,  car- 
ried it  to  Rome,  and  soon  it  began  to  circulate  there. 
Rome  soon  found  that  the  only  way  to  maintain  an 
imperial  kingdom  in  the  face  of  the  leavening  influ- 
ence of  the  Lord  whom  they  had  crucified  was  to 
nationalize  Christianity  and  crush  out  the  rising  de- 
mocracy. 

But  doubtless  the  writing  of  John  also  had  much  to 
do  with  the  situation  in  Rome.  John's  Gospel  is  so 
largely  of  a  spiritual  and  devotional  nature  that  some 
have  inferred  that  it  has  no  message  concerning  the 
economic  and  democratic  teaching  of  Jesus.  How- 
ever, it  contains  the  account  of  the  cleansing  of  the 
temple,  the  teaching  in  Samaria  that  God  is  spirit  and 


AN  IMPEKIALIZED  DEMOCRACY  213 

can  be  worshipped  anywhere  in  spirit  and  truth — a 
"  trust-busting  "  thrust  at  the  Jerusalem  exploiters — 
His  defiance  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  by  healing 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  His  answers  that  put  to  con- 
fusion the  cavilling  Jews  on  so  many  occasions.  It  is 
John  who  tells  of  His  asking  the  innocent  men  to  cast 
the  first  stone  at  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  of  His 
telling  His  critics  that  they  were  the  children  of  Abra- 
ham according  to  the  flesh,  but  children  of  the  devil 
according  to  the  spirit.  He  portrayed  Jesus'  dealings 
with  the  Pharisees,  who  became  so  enraged  that  they 
sought  to  put  both  Jesus  and  Lazarus  to  death,  and  of 
the  common  people  coming  to  pay  their  respects  to 
both;  also  the  great  lesson  of  democracy  and  service 
one  to  another  set  forth  in  His  washing  of  the  feet 
of  the  disciples.  His  account  of  the  betrayal,  arrest, 
trial,  crucifixion  and  resurrection  is  not  lacking  in 
value  from  the  economic  view-point. 

John's  Epistles  breathe  the  spirit  of  economic 
Christianity  and  brotherly  love.  He  exhorts  his 
readers  to  "  love  not  the  world  " — the  iniquitous  sys- 
tem by  which  the  Christians  of  his  day  were  sur- 
rounded— but  to  "  love  the  brethren."  This  love 
would  make  them  kind  one  to  another.  "  He  laid 
down  his  life  for  us,  and  we  ought  to  lay  down  our 
lives  for  the  brethren  " — not  make  their  way  hard  by 
"  man's  inhumanity  to  man."  Then  he  uses  the  very 
trenchant  argument  that  "  if  we  love  not  our  brethren 
whom  we  have  seen,  how  can  we  love  God,  whom  we 
have  not  seen  ?  "  He  then  shows  that  it  is  murderous 
to  hate  one's  brother.     We  may  know  the  genuine- 


214         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

ness  of  our  Christian  profession  by  inquiring  what  we 
love:  "he  that  loveth  abideth  in  God."  John's  Epis- 
tles show  the  need  of  the  early  Christians  cooperating 
one  with  another  in  brotherly  love,  whether  capitalist 
or  labourer.  Rome's  bloody  system  was  ready  to  im- 
pale them.  To  hate  and  betray,  to  tear  and  rend, 
would  make  them  easy  victims  and  add  to  their  dis- 
tress. Right  personal  relationship  is  the  outstanding 
feature  of  John's  writings. 

His  Book  of  Revelation  is  difficult  to  interpret, 
since  it  isn't  narrative,  history  or  doctrinal  literature, 
but  is  of  a  style  known  as  apocalyptic.  The  word 
signifies  the  lifting  of  a  cover  from  something  con- 
cealed, thus  revealing  it.  The  visions  of  the  Book  of 
Daniel  belong  to  that  class,  while  no  less  than  sixteen 
other  works  of  that  nature  are  now  in  print.  It  was 
of  great  value  in  periods  of  persecution,  since  the 
veiled  messages  could  be  understood  by  those  in  pos- 
session of  the  meaning  of  the  symbols,  but  were  a 
sealed  book  to  their  enemies.  It  was  a  message  in 
"  cipher,"  understood  only  by  those  who  possessed  the 
key  to  the  code.  In  the  days  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
and  on  many  other  occasions,  the  Hebrews  thus  had 
their  courage  revived  and  new  strength  ministered 
for  the  severest  trials.  With  the  persecution  that 
Rome  was  waging  against  Christians,  any  allusion  to 
the  Empire,  or  its  economic  system,  would  have 
caused  the  destruction  of  the  literature  and  the  hunt- 
ing to  death  of  all  those  concerned  with  it.  How- 
ever, by  couching  the  message  in  symbolic  terms, 
speaking  of  Rome  as  "  Babylon,"  a  "  beast,"  et  al., 


AN  IMPEEIALIZED  DEMOCBACY  215 

it  could  be  read  by  the  knowing  ones  and  remain  an 
unknown  tongue  to  the  Emperor's  minions.  The 
message  is  still  "  cipher."  We  have  lost  the  key,  and 
it  becomes  us  to  be  modest  in  our  interpretations. 

A  few  lessons  are  quite  plain.  In  Paul's  early 
work,  the  Hebrews  persecuted  and  the  Romans  pro- 
tected Christians.  By  the  time  of  the  writing  of  this 
book,  Rome  had  joined  the  persecutors,  and  the  great 
world  power  was  aligned  against  Christianity.  "  The 
System,"  whether  in  Jerusalem  or  Rome,  could  not 
endure  the  democracy  of  the  Gospels.  The  Apoca- 
lypse evidently  deals  with  these  conditions.  It  shows 
the  certain  overthrow  of  whatsoever  plants  itself  in 
the  way  of  the  progress  of  the  Gospel.  Rome  might 
then  control  land  and  sea,  but  she  could  not  stand 
against  the  onward  sweep  of  the  forces  of  righteous- 
ness. 

When  would  her  overthrow  take  place?  The  time 
element  is  one  of  the  difficult  parts  of  the  book.  Jesus 
taught  that  the  times  and  seasons  are  in  the  Father's 
hands,  and  many  have  been  brought  into  confusion  by 
seeking  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written.  However, 
the  book  itself  seems  to  favour  the  Preterist's  view, 
at  least  as  to  the  beginning  of  its  fulfillment.  It  pre- 
sents the  things  which  must  "  shortly  "  come  to  pass, 
and  declares  that  "  the  time  is  at  hand."  John  is  told 
to  seal  not  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  for  the  time  is 
"at  hand."  At  its  close,  the  Lord  says,  Behold  I 
come  "  quickly." 

If  language  means  anything,  it  must  mean  that  the 
writer  intended  the  message  of  the  book  for  those 


216  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

who  were  then  living — for  that  generation.  When 
he  says,  "  the  time  is  at  hand,"  why  should  the  exe- 
gete  say  that  it  is  two  thousand  or  more  years  away, 
or  is  yet  in  the  future?  If  John  says  they  shall 
"  shortly  "  come  to  pass,  how  dare  we  make  the  ful- 
fillment distant  ?  Very  evidently  John's  message  is  to 
be  understood  as  applying  primarily  to  the  people  and 
conditions  of  his  day. 

Everywhere  the  book  exalts  Jesus.  He  is  seen  as 
the  Master  of  human  destiny.  By  Him  "  kings  reign 
and  princes  decree  judgment." 

The  economic  message  of  the  book  is  strong.  In 
the  opening  of  the  seals,  to  make  certain  that  the  eco- 
nomic phase  should  not  be  overlooked,  John  said 
(6:  6):  "A  measure  of  wheat  for  a  penny,  and  three 
measures  of  barley  for  a  penny,  and  see  thou  hurt  not 
the  oil  and  the  wine  " — a  warning  to  the  food  profi- 
teers that  could  not  be  misunderstood. 

Concerning  Rome,  he  says  (17:  16):  "They  shall 
burn  her  with  fire."  Again  (18:  8):  "She  shall  be 
utterly  burned  with  fire."  Nero  accused  the  Chris- 
tians of  firing  Rome;  but  they  were  assured  of  her 
burning,  without  themselves  applying  the  torch.  He 
also  called  upon  his  readers  to  "  Come  out  of  her,  my 
people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that 
ye  receive  not  her  plagues."  Merchants  wept  be- 
cause they  could  no  longer  trade  with  her  (18:  11- 
19) — economic  tears:  grief  for  gold. 

What  the  historian  Ferrero  calls  "the  big  eco- 
nomic gains  of  the  first  century "  had  so  inflamed 
Rome's  lust  for  gold,  that  as  John  saw  the  beast: 


AN  IMPERIALIZED  DEMOCRACY  217 

"  He  causeth  all,  the  small  and  the  great,  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  the  free  and  the  bond,  that  there  be  given 
them  a  mark  on  their  forehead:  that  no  man  should  be 
able  to  buy  or  sell,  save  he  that  had  the  mark,  even  the 
name  of  the  beast  or  the  number  of  his  name." 

Trade  was  completely  throttled  by  the  Empire. 
She  controlled  the  traffic  of  the  Mediterranean  coun- 
tries, which  were  the  richest  in  the  ancient  world.  In 
summing  up  the  articles  in  which  their  merchants 
dealt,  and  by  which  they  were  reaping  great  riches, 
John  places  at  the  climax  "  slaves  and  souls  of  men." 
The  Greek  words  mean  "  bodies "  of  men  and 
"  lives  "  of  men.  So  thoroughly  established  was  the 
traffic  in  humanity  that  even  the  bodies  of  men  were 
not  enough:  their  souls  must  be  involved. 

One  of  their  own  historians  has  said: 

"  The  sum  of  all  negro  slavery  is  but  a  drop  compared 
with  the  sufferings  of  Roman  slaves." 

Perhaps  half  the  Christians  were  slaves  and  their 
condition  was  peculiarly  hard.  If  the  master  took 
the  wife  of  a  married  slave  he  had  no  redress.  The 
slave  maiden  had  no  power  with  her  owner  to  main- 
tain her  virtue. 

Persecution  brought  to  all  Christians  practically 
the  same  treatment  that  was  accorded  to  slaves.  Ter- 
tullian  indicates  its  horror  in  this  sentence: 

"  By  condemning  the  Christian  maiden  to  the  brothel, 
you  acknowledge  that  to  us  the  violation  of  chastity  is 
more  dreadful  than  any  other  form  of  punishment." 


218         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

"  This  maiden  to  the  public  brothel  they  consign, 
Unless  she  bows  before  the  heathen  shrine." 

— Prudentius. 

In  Nero's  persecution,  his  gardens  were  illuminated 
by  burning  Christians,  who  were  dressed  in  shrouds 
of  wax,  that  the  material  might  add  to  the  fury  of  the 
flames.  In  the  amphitheater,  gladiators  were  brought 
out  to  fight  wild  beasts,  and  one  another,  and  were 
expected  to  salute  Caesar  as  they  went  to  their  death. 
Helpless  women  and  children  were  kept  in  dungeons 
until  Rome's  fete  day  arrived.  Lions  were  kept  in 
cages  until  they  were  crazed  by  hunger.  These  vic- 
tims were  brought  into  the  arena,  and  ere  their 
prayers  were  said,  the  ravenous  beasts  were  loosed 
upon  them.  The  red  blood  of  these  martyrs  stained 
the  unyielding  floors  of  the  coliseum,  but  the  thou- 
sands of  Rome's  populace  who  looked  down  from 
their  terraced  seats  were  unmoved.  Bones  were 
crushed,  flesh  was  rended  and  blood  spilled,  until  the 
hunger  of  the  lions  was  appeased,  and  shreds  of  quiv- 
ering human  fragments  lined  the  footways  with  a 
sickening  ooze.  And  for  what  crime  did  they  suffer  ? 
Simply  for  being  Christians,  Rome's  gold-lust  and 
blood-lust  being  coupled  together.  So  complete  was 
her  domination  of  the  world's  work  that  no  one  was 
allowed  even  to  trade,  except  he  bore  the  mark  of  the 
beast  in  his  forehead. 

Is  it  strange  that  John,  in  his  island  home  on  Pat- 
mos,  banished  and  lonely,  should  describe  Rome  as  a 
"  dragon,"  a  "  scarlet  woman,"  as  "  Babylon,"  in 
whose  wake  her  destruction  would  follow  ?     That  she 


AN  IMPERIALIZED  DEMOCRACY  219 

was  a  "beast  rising  up  out  of  the  sea,"  and  that 
plagues  and  viols  of  wrath  were  to  be  poured  upon 
her,  was  a  vision  needed  to  cheer  the  faith  of  those 
who  were  shedding  their  blood  in  the  struggle  to 
which  they  had  been  called.  Then  came  the  vision  of 
a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth — a  new  social  order 
which  would  be  the  very  opposite  of  that  of  bloody 
old  Rome.  It  meant  new  ideals,  coming  from  above. 
It  was  a  vision  of  brotherhood  taking  the  place  of 
blood-lust. 

Cheered  by  such  messages  as  John's  Apocalypse, 
and  sustained  by  divine  grace,  Rome  found  her  Chris- 
tian populace  unconquerable,  and  changed  her  atti- 
tude toward  it.  She  incorporated  that  which  she 
could  not  conquer.  The  period  of  Jewish  Christian- 
ity ended  when  Titus  overthrew  Jerusalem.  It  was 
then  entirely  separated  from  Judaism,  and  was 
launched  upon  its  world  conquest.  In  the  next  two 
hundred  years,  it  spread  from  England  to  India,  and 
in  spite  of  the  persecutions,  honeycombed  the  Roman 
Empire.  But  the  deflection  of  the  Mediator's  de- 
mocracy is  seen  in  the  fact  that  by  313,  Constantine 
found  the  genius  of  Christianity  so  nearly  in  keeping 
with  that  of  the  Roman  Empire  that  he  decided  to 
annex  it. 

What  changes  had  made  this  possible  ?  No  sooner 
was  the  Gospel  carried  to  Europe  than  the  philoso- 
phers of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  those  of  Alexandria, 
began  to  associate  its  doctrines  with  their  metaphys- 
ical speculations.  From  Grecian  philosophy  came 
many  of  the  pagan  religions.     They  were  systems  of 


220         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

philosophy  without  an  ethical  element.  They  were  in 
the  interest  of  the  upper  classes,  and  were  understood 
only  by  those  who  were  given  to  metaphysical  specu- 
lation. These  philosophers  read  into  the  Gospels 
their  metaphysical  systems  and  formed  a  theology  fa- 
vourable to  the  classes.  Tertullian  tells  how  the  rank 
and  file  protested  against  this: 

"  The  simpler  minded,  not  to  say  the  ignorant  and  un- 
learned, men  who  always  form  the  majority  of  be- 
lievers, are  frightened  at  the  philosophy  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity." 

Clement  of  Alexandria  protested  against  the  an- 
tagonism of  those  who  were  not  willing  to  accept  the 
philosophy  that  he  and  his  associates  were  weaving 
into  Christianity.  About  130  a.  d.,  the  religious  phi- 
losophy of  Greece  began  to  affect  Christianity.  Then 
followed  Greek  mysteries,  Hellenism  and  other  theo- 
ries during  the  next  hundred  years.     Newman  says: 

"  Christianity  did  not  win  for  itself  popular  and  im- 
perial recognition  without  undergoing  momentous  inter- 
nal changes.  In  life,  doctrine,  church  order,  and  wor- 
ship, the  churches  of  313  were  very  different  from  the 
churches  of  100.  Those  who  regard  the  apostolic 
churches  as  the  standard  must  look  upon  these  changes 
as  perversions." 

Both  Constantine  and  his  father  were  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  the  popular  religion.  War  existed  be- 
tween Constantine  and  Maxentius.  The  latter  had 
taken  pains  to  propitiate  all  the  deities,  having 
"  scooped "  his  antagonist  in   gaining  their   favour. 


AN  IMPEKIALIZED  DEMOCRACY  221 

Constantine  knew  of  the  aggressiveness  of  Christi- 
anity, and  doubtless  was  somewhat  in  sympathy  with 
it.  To  preserve  the  morale  of  his  troops,  he  decided 
to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  God  of  the  Christians.  He 
told  them  that  he  had  seen  in  the  sky  a  banner  in  the 
form  of  a  cross,  with  this  inscription:  "  By  This  Con- 
quer." With  this  on  a  fine  labarum,  he  went  to  war 
and  won  a  splendid  victory. 

Soon  after  this  victory,  he  had  a  statue  of  himself 
erected  in  Rome,  with  a  cross  in  his  right  hand,  and 
this  inscription:  "By  virtue  of  this  salutary  sign, 
which  is  the  true  symbol  of  valour,  I  have  preserved 
and  liberated  your  city  from  the  yoke  of  tyranny." 
The  edict  of  Milan,  313,  proclaimed  liberty  of  con- 
science and  showed  partiality  to  Christians.  Pagan 
temples  were  destroyed,  the  observance  of  Sunday  en- 
joined, large  contributions  for  the  building  of 
churches  made,  and  his  sons  given  a  Christian  educa- 
tion. 

Christianity  was  annexed;  but  this  attempt  to  im- 
perialize  the  democracy  of  Jesus  made  of  it  a  func- 
tion and  force  of  the  State,  and  not  a  religious  organi- 
zation. It  secularized  the  code  of  the  Mediator  in- 
stead of  spiritualizing  it.  The  ideal  of  a  secular, 
world-wide  dominion  dominated  the  early  Church 
from  the  days  of  Constantine. 

Professor  Adolf  Harnack  wrote: 

"  No  religion,  not  even  Buddhism,  ever  went  to  work 
with  such  an  energetic  social  message,  or  so  strongly 
identified  itself  with  the  message,  as  we  see  to  be  the 
case  with  the  Gospel." 


222         JESUS  AS  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

Alas,  however,  it  became  annexed  to  Rome  and  lost 
this  social  message,  and  became  but  a  sort  of  ghostly 
police  force  to  keep  in  subjection  those  whom  their 
masters  feared.  Slaves  might  be  willing  to  take  a 
chance  with  the  soldiers  who  hunted  them,  but  when 
eternal  torments,  such  as  those  pictured  in  Dante's 
Inferno,  were  held  up  with  the  Scriptural  assurance 
that  we  must  "  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat 
of  Christ,"  there  appeared  too  great  a  risk,  and  men 
suffered  on  in  silence,  believing  that  although  they 
might  suffer  in  body  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom  to  try 
to  save  the  soul. 

Soon  then  the  Church  became  the  persecutor.  The 
earlier  persecutions  were  against  the  Christians,  be- 
cause their  teaching  threatened  existing  conditions. 
After  having  been  adopted  by  the  Empire,  and  its 
doctrines  so  diluted  with  philosophy  and  mysticism 
that  they  were  no  longer  dangerous,  it  became  an  ally 
of  Rome  and  used  the  Roman  power  to  persecute  any 
who  might  dare  to  think  of  Christ's  message  of  de- 
mocracy. Such  truth  loosed  among  the  masses 
would  destroy  the  existing  order,  and  the  economic 
message  would  uproot  the  entire  industrial  system. 

How  heartrending  is  the  vision  of  a  Church, 
whose  very  mission  it  is  to  enlighten  and  uplift,  when 
it  is  made  an  engine  of  oppression  to  crush  the  bodies 
and  souls  of  trembling,  quivering  humanity,  which  is 
feeling  its  way  to  God  and  to  a  better  life! 

"  O  religion ;  what  crimes  in  thy  name !  " 


XVIII 

THE  KINGDOM  IDEAL  ENSWATHED 

"  There  is  nothing  covered  up,  that  shall  not  be  re- 
vealed ;  and  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known." — Luke  12: 2. 

"  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words 
shall  not  pass  away." — Matthew  24: 35. 

WE  have  seen  how  completely  the  code  of 
Jesus  was  imperialized,  as  His  religion  was 
annexed  to  the  State.  Church  theology, 
and  churchly  interpretations  of  the  Gospels,  began 
spinning  a  web,  soft  and  silky  but  strong  and  safe,  in 
which  the  economic  meaning  of  His  message  was  to 
be  held  inactive  during  the  long  winter  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  To  accomplish  this,  the  emphasis  needed  to  be 
shifted  from  the  kingdom  ideal  to  the  church  ideal. 
A  religion  which  is  a  kingdom  cannot  well  be  annexed 
to  a  worldly  empire,  but  a  great  "  Church  "  might  be 
developed  under  such  a  kingdom  as  Rome. 

In  losing  the  kingdom  ideal,  there  was  lost  the 
democracy  and  economic  significance  of  Jesus'  teach- 
ing. In  his  "  Problem  of  Christianity,"  Royce  has 
well  said: 

"The  risks  of  temporary  disaster  which  great  ideals 
run,  appear  to  be  directly  proportioned  to  the  value  of 
the  ideals.     Great  truths  bear  long  sorrows." 

The  solace  is  that  after  all  the  disaster  is  but  tem- 

223 


224         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOK 

porary.  Great  ideals,  such  as  those  of  Jesus',  are 
indestructible.  They  may  be  temporarily  enswathed, 
but  in  due  time,  and  under  proper  influences,  they  will 
burst  forth  with  added  glory  and  unconquerable 
power. 

That  the  great  ideal  of  the  Gospel  is  based  upon  the 
worth  of  the  individual  and  the  need  of  redemption 
for  his  whole  being,  and  that  this  gave  rise  to  the 
democracy  and  economic  teaching  of  Jesus  (as  a 
corollary  to  man's  spiritual  salvation)  are  truths  that 
are  coming  into  more  universal  acceptance  every  year. 
However,  for  centuries,  this  phase  of  Jesus'  message 
was  shrouded  in  the  churchly  ideal — the  garb  in 
which  the  nuptial  ceremonies  uniting  the  new  religion 
with  the  Roman  Empire  were  celebrated. 

To  restore  the  kingdom  ideal  is  essential  to  the 
solving  of  our  present-day  problems,  but  it  is  a  most 
difficult  task. 

"  The  reformation  brought  no  renascence  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  kingdom;  it  had  only  eschatological  value, 
or  it  was  defined  in  blurred  phrases  borrowed  from  the 
Church.  The  present  revival  of  the  kingdom  ideal  is 
due  to  the  combined  influence  of  the  historical  study  of 
the  Bible  and  the  social  gospel." 

"  The  distinctive  ethical  principles  of  Jesus  were  the 
direct  outgrowth  of  His  conception  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  When  the  latter  disappeared  from  theology,  the 
former  disappeared  from  ethics." — Rauschenbusch. 

So  completely  was  the  kingdom  ideal  of  the  Media- 
tor obscured  that  in  the  earlier  Protestant  thought  but 


THE  KINGDOM  IDEAL  ENSWATHED      225 

little    attention    was    paid    to    it.     William    Adams 
Brown,  in  his  "  Christian  Theology  in  Outline,"  says: 

"  It  has  become  an  axiom  of  modern  thought  that  the 
government  of  God  has  social  as  well  as  individual  sig- 
nificance, and  the  conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God — 
obscured  in  the  earlier  Protestantism — is  coming  again 
into  the  forefront  of  theological  thought." 

Albert  Ritschl,  of  whom  it  has  been  said,  "  he  was 
born  too  early  to  get  sociological  ideas,"  has  well 
said: 

"  The  ethical  conception  of  Christianity  contained  in 
the  kingdom  of  God  has  been  slighted.  ...  It  has 
been  fatal  for  Protestantism  that  the  Reformers  did  not 
cleanse  the  idea  of  the  ethical  kingdom  of  God  or  Christ 
from  its  hierarchical  corruption — i.  e.,  that  the  visible 
Church  is  identical  with  the  kingdom — but  worked  out 
the  idea  only  in  an  academic  and  unpractical  form." 

These  quotations  are  sufficient  to  prove  that  in  the 
very  early  history  of  Christianity  the  kingdom  ideal 
atrophied,  that  Christianity  started  on  its  long  course 
of  conquest  stripped  of  the  dynamic  so  essential  to 
man's  full  redemption,  and  that  the  restoration  of  the 
economic  message  is  the  latest  element  to  appear  in 
the  quest  for  a  whole  gospel.  That  this  germ  of 
heavenly  empire  was  carried  safely  through  its  long 
chrysalis  period  triumphantly  is  matter  for  devout 
gratitude. 

There  was  method  in  the  madness  of  these  ages, 
when  they  hid  the  code  of  Jesus  from  the  people. 
The  worth  of  the  individual,  which  is  the  foundation 
of  democracy,  so  permeates  His  teaching  that  deep 


226  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

and  reverent  students  of  His  words  cannot  help  find- 
ing it,  and  hence  the  Bible  becomes  an  inflammatory 
book.  William  Tyndale,  when  translating  the  New 
Testament  from  Greek  into  English,  found  this  mes- 
sage so  strongly  interwoven  therein  that  in  spite  of 
the  monarchical  form  of  government  which  prevailed 
in  his  day,  his  works  show  that  as  early  as  1526  he 
had  gathered  the  essential  features  of  democracy 
from  his  study  of  the  Gospels.  This  spirit  of  free- 
dom could  be  enswathed  in  its  downy  cocoon,  and  held 
practically  inactive  during  the  Middle  Ages,  only  by 
withholding  the  Bible  from  circulation.  In  the  Ref- 
ormation, justification  by  faith  was  the  great  doc- 
trine that  overshadowed  all  others,  hence  for  long 
ages  the  economic  side  of  human  rights  was  held  in 
its  cocoon,  until  at  last  it  burst  forth  in  its  beauty,  to 
soar  abroad  in  the  undimmed  sunlight  of  the  New 
World. 

The  provisions  of  the  Mediator  have  made  democ- 
racy possible,  and  it  is  so  singularly  in  keeping  with 
the  American  spirit  that  its  most  congenial  clime  is 
found  beneath  our  skies.  Our  age  is  so  emphatically 
one  of  democracy,  and  its  demands  are  so  stupendous 
as  to  sometimes  cause  alarm ;  but  in  tracing  cause  and 
effect,  the  results  of  an  open  Bible  are  readily  seen.  It 
is  hard  for  us  to  conceive  that  other  ages  have  been 
so  vastly  different.  The  aggressive  and  progressive 
democracy  of  the  age  leads  the  common  man  to 
clamour  for  his  rights  to-day  as  never  before.  His 
demands,  like  Banquo's  ghost,  will  not  down:  they 
grow  more  and  more  insistent. 


THE  KINGDOM  IDEAL  ENSWATHED      227 

Possibly  a  brief  aeroplane  view,  revealing  some  of 
the  high  points  in  history  which  show  the  struggle  for 
equality  of  rights,  would  be  more  inviting  than  other 
treatment  of  this  illimitable  subject. 

From  the  cross  of  Calvary  to  the  Bartholdi  statue 
of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,  in  New  York 
harbour,  there  is  a  long  distance  and  a  great 
lapse  of  time;  and  yet,  there  is  a  vital  connection  be- 
tween them.  From  the  oppressed  land  of  Judea  there 
came  the  note  of  supreme  optimism  that  awakened 
the  consciousness  of  individual  worth.  From  the 
declaration  that  "one  is  your  master:  all  ye  are 
brethren,"  there  developed  the  American  patriotism 
that  recognized  human  equality  in  the  memorable 
Preamble  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
declares  that: 

"  All  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights;  that 
among  these  rights  are  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness." 

The  Revolutionary  fathers  held  these  to  be  "  self- 
evident  truths";  but  they  had  not  always  been 
"  self-evident."  The  very  opposite  beliefs  were  long 
and  tenaciously  held. 

The  Continent  of  Asia  has  never  been  remark- 
able for  the  democracy  of  her  people.  They  are  not 
liberty-loving.  The  average  Asiatic  has  usually 
looked  for  a  boss,  expected  to  be  bossed,  and  quite 
often  needed  to  be.  Most  governments  in  Asia  have 
been  theocracies,  and  as  they  have  many  bad  gods 


228  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

there  has  been  much  bad  government.  Equality  of 
human  rights  has  been  crushed  from  the  mind  by 
heathenism.  People  do  not  want  to  be  free:  they  do 
not  care  to  be  thrown  on  their  own  responsibility. 
The  most  liberty-loving  of  them  all — the  Israelites — 
"  desired  a  king." 

Flying  from  Asia  to  Europe,  and  passing  over  a 
period  of  eight  hundred  years,  to  Charlemagne's  es- 
tablishing of  the  New  Empire  of  the  East,  we  find 
certain  elements  woven  into  society,  some  of  which 
make  for  human  rights,  and  some  of  which  oppose 
any  sort  of  equality.  The  conflict  of  these  elements 
furnished  turmoil  for  Europe  for  nearly  a  thousand 
years. 

Rome  had  been  built  upon  the  suppression  of  hu- 
man rights,  but  Rome  had  now  fallen.  She  prosti- 
tuted the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  her  own  base  ends, 
but  the  principles  of  the  kingdom  had  not  been  al- 
lowed to  give  her  a  new  heart.  Three  things  she  left 
to  the  civilization  that  followed  her:  Municipal  gov- 
ernment and  absolute  authority  of  the  sovereign;  a 
Church  whose  officers  became  municipal  governors  at 
the  fall  of  the  Empire,  and  her  industrial  system 
founded  upon  slavery. 

European  thought  was  theological  from  the  fifth  to 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  ethics  of  the  kingdom 
were  smothered  under  the  ideal  of  "  the  Church." 
Her  aim  was  to  usurp  all  power  and  become  abso- 
lute. If  a  geographer  dared  to  assert  that  the  earth 
is  round,  the  theologians  were  ready  with  the  objec- 
tion that  Paul  compared  it  to  a  tabernacle,  and  that 


THE  KINGDOM  IDEAL  ENSWATHED      229 

the  tabernacle  was  square;  ergo,  the  heretic's  head 
was  wrong  and  must  fall  from  his  shoulders.  Des- 
cartes and  Bacon  were  the  first  to  break  over  the  the- 
ological cast  of  thought.  The  accepted  theology  was 
the  farthest  remove  from  the  principle  of  equal 
rights,  as  taught  by  the  Master.  The  bondage  was 
religious,  intellectual  and  industrial.  Jesus  was 
Saviour;  but  not  Mediator.  No  equal-rights  code 
dared  touch  the  industrial  realm. 

The  Barbarians,  who  overthrew  Rome,  led  a  wild 
life,  close  to  nature,  which  had  imbued  them  with  a 
strong  sense  of  individual  worth.  The  effeminate 
and  luxurious  civilization  of  Rome  had  no  chance  to 
efface  their  love  of  liberty.  They  contributed  to 
European  civilization  the  element  of  personality  and 
a  strong  military  patronage,  which  proved  the  nucleus 
of  the  feudal  system. 

Feudalism  made  Europe  a  scene  of  international 
strife  from  the  seventh  to  the  eleventh  century.  This 
was  followed  by  the  wars  of  the  Crusades,  from  1095 
to  1270.  An  awakening  desire  for  heroism  and  help- 
fulness to  the  weak  gave  rise  to  the  Age  of  Chivalry, 
beginning  in  the  eleventh  century.  The  tyranny  and 
taxation  of  John  (Lackland)  King  of  England,  pro- 
voked his  lords  and  barons  to  rebellion,  and  led  to  the 
memorable  scene  at  Runnymede,  where,  on  June  15, 
1215,  they  wrung  from  John's  unwilling  hands  the 
Great  Magna  Charta.  This  established  Parliament, 
provided  for  trial  by  equals,  and  marked  one  of  the 
chief  epochs  in  the  struggle  for  equal  rights. 

The  people  were  sunk  in  ignorance  and  supersti- 


230  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

tion.  They  had  a  strong  belief  in  witches,  and  in  the 
miracles  of  so-called  relics.  Monks  preached  the 
virtue  of  the  relics  and  sold  them.  Of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, it  was  found  that  the  following  parts  were  dis- 
posed of:  Four  shoulder  blades,  eight  arms,  twelve 
hands  and  thirteen  skulls.  By  this  time,  St.  Patrick 
had  two  heads  on  the  market,  and  anatomists  claimed 
that  the  purported  bones  of  St.  Andrew  were  those 
of  a  cow.  Somewhat  later,  Erasmus  visited  England, 
saw  the  relics,  and  wrote  a  book  on  "  Fools." 
Dragons  were  believed  in,  as  witness  the  story  of  St. 
George  and  the  Patron  Saint  of  England.  A  very- 
much-present  and  materialized  devil  was  believed  in, 
and  St.  Dustin,  it  was  said,  put  him  to  flight  by  pinch- 
ing his  nose  with  red-hot  tongs.  Quite  a  bit  later, 
Martin  Luther  vanquished  his  satanic  majesty  by 
hurling  an  inkstand  at  him. 

In  England,  "Wat  Tyler"  (John  Walters,  a 
roofer)  headed  an  insurrection  that  resulted  in  the 
abolition  of  excessive  taxes,  and  secured  two  char- 
ters, giving  greater  liberty.  However,  the  barons 
were  jealous  of  their  rights,  and  opposed  this  move- 
ment, coming  from  the  common  people,  and  savour- 
ing largely  of  an  industrial  reform.  In  the  reign  of 
Richard  II,  Parliament  denounced  the  Pope.  Previ- 
ous to  this,  John  Wycliff  had  translated  the  Bible  into 
the  English  tongue,  and  Chaucer  had  written  his 
"  Canterbury  Tales." 

In  Bohemia,  Professor  Faulflash  was  instrumental 
in  converting  John  Huss,  the  queen's  confessor.  In 
1415,   Huss  was   arrested   and   burned.     The   same 


THE  KINGDOM  IDEAL  ENSWATHED      231 

council  demanded  that  the  bones  and  writings  of  Wyc- 
liff  be  burned.  The  Inquisition  had  been  set  up  in 
the  twelfth  century.  The  form  of  government  in  the 
various  countries  was  that  of  an  absolute  monarchy. 
Theology  pictured  Jehovah  as  the  great  Sovereign  of 
the  Universe.  Folks  thought  in  the  terms  of  an  ab- 
solute and  cruel  monarchy.  Theology  and  politics 
were  made  of  the  same  philosophy,  and  the  Father 
whom  Jesus  worshipped  was  caricatured  into  the 
likeness  of  the  hideous  human  monsters  who  ruled  the 
kingdoms  of  Europe.  Sin  might  be  atoned  for  by 
suffering,  if  one  could  suffer  enough  to  please,  and 
appease,  an  angry  God.  Heretics  were  burned,  sawn 
asunder,  etc.,  not  alone  to  stop  the  uprising  of  the 
free  human  spirit,  but  with  the  idea  of  placating  the 
Deity.  Dante's  "  Inferno  "  perhaps  could  not  have 
been  produced  in  any  other  age. 

In  1423,  Lawrence  Costers  conceived  the  idea  of 
printing  from  movable  types.  John  Guttenberg  and 
John  Faust  issued  the  first  printed  book  in  1450.  It 
was  Wycliff's  Bible.  Men  began  reading  it,  and  they 
searched  in  vain  for  "the  divine  right  of  kings." 
They  comforted  their  souls  with  the  ideal  of  Jesus 
concerning  equal  rights. 

The  ruling  class  undertook  to  suppress  all  reading 
matter,  and  especially  the  Bible.  Faust's  first  issue 
of  the  book  nearly  cost  him  his  life,  as  he  was  accused 
of  being  in  league  with  the  devil.  The  press  soon  be- 
came a  distributor  of  intelligence,  and  awakened  men 
to  a  consciousness  of  their  rights  and  privileges. 
Fierce  persecutions  were  endured.     The  Waldenses, 


232  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

the  Vaudois,  the  Albigenses,  and  others,  have  written 
in  their  own  blood  the  story  of  their  heroism,  as  they 
stood  for  liberty  of  conscience  and  human  rights. 
The  inspiration  of  the  Mediator's  messages  made 
heroes  in  those  dark  days.  In  Spain,  the  Inquisition 
was  waged  under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  Pope 
Innocent  VIII.  More  than  two  thousand  were 
burned  in  the  furnaces. 

The  Reformation,  led  by  Martin  Luther,  in  Ger- 
many, helped  to  lift  the  dark  clouds.  The  sadness  of 
it  is  that  the  so-called  Christian  forces  were  lined  up 
against  the  common  people!  Strange  that  every  ef- 
fort at  reform  has  been  opposed  by  some  church! 
However,  changes  have  taken  place,  and  much  of  the 
prejudice  against  churches  to-day  is  due  to  the  history 
of  the  Dark  Ages,  men  having  forgotten  the  changes. 

The  order  of  "  Jesuits  "  was  organized  in  1534,  by 
Ignatius  Loyola,  of  Spain,  and  was  approved  by  the 
Pope  in  1540.  Its  motto  was,  "  A  good  motive  makes 
any  action  right."  It  would  be  praiseworthy,  there- 
fore, to  torture,  imprison,  even  to  kill  the  body,  if  the 
motive  were  the  saving  of  the  soul.  It  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  ruling  classes  an  opiate  for  smitten  con- 
sciences, and  a  weapon  of  fierce  effectiveness  for 
quelling  any  uprisings  against  established  authority, 
ecclesiastical  or  otherwise. 

In  England,  a  case  of  "  rogues  falling  out  and  hon- 
est men  getting  their  dues" — or  at  least  a  part  of 
them — occurred  when  Henry  VIII  divorced  Cath- 
arine to  marry  Anne  Boleyn  and  the  Pope  refused  to 
sanction  the  proceedings.     Henry  decided  that  Eng- 


THE  KINGDOM  IDEAL  ENSWATHED      233 

land  should  have  a  Church  of  its  very  own,  and  there- 
fore broke  with  the  Pope.  He  was  a  poor,  unworthy- 
head  of  a  Church,  for  he  divorced  two  queens  and 
beheaded  two,  but  he  broke  the  continent-wide  "  sys- 
tem "  of  authority  by  which  dependents  were  held  in 
bondage. 

However,  persecution  in  England  continued  to 
meet  the  rising  tide  of  democracy  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion, state  and  industrial  life.  Men  who  dared  to 
do  their  own  thinking  were  burned  and  otherwise  ex- 
ecuted. In  1554,  Mary,  a  granddaughter  of  Isabella 
of  Spain,  kindled  anew  the  fires  of  persecution,  and 
made  Smithfield  infamous  for  the  atrocities  there  en- 
acted. In  France,  the  Massacre  of  Bartholomew's 
Day,  and  the  war  against  the  Huguenots,  evidenced 
the  determination  to  hold  the  subject  class  completely 
under  the  dominion  of  their  rulers.  When  this  was 
ended,  a  victory  for  the  thinkers  was  achieved  by  the 
edict  of  1598,  granting  liberty  of  conscience. 

In  England,  with  Elizabeth  on  the  throne,  after 
Mary  Queen  of  the  Scots  had  been  beheaded,  Mary's 
instructor,  George  Buchanan,  who  also  taught  (and 
spanked)  her  son  King  James,  when  a  boy,  wrote  a 
marvellous  little  book.  He  called  it  "  De  Jure  Regni," 
or  "  The  Right  to  Reign."  Its  date  was  about  1560, 
and  its  key-note  was,  "  The  will  of  the  people  is  the 
only  legitimate  source  of  power."  Logically,  he 
smashed  the  "  divine  right  of  kings,"  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  democracy,  and  raised  a  voice  to  cry  for 
equality  of  human  rights,  which  has  never  been  si- 
lenced.    Sixty  years  thereafter,  the  Puritans  landed 


234         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

at  Plymouth,  and  human  rights  began  a  new  era,  un- 
der brighter  skies  and  more  genial  influences,  on  the 
virgin  soil  of  America. 

This  very  brief  and  incomplete  excursus  into  the 
history  of  the  struggles  for  equality  or  rights  and 
privileges  shows  the  Mediator's  principles  as  the  guid- 
ing star  in  the  Dark  Ages,  leading  men  to  a  better 
day.  The  star  has  by  no  means  set,  but  had  its  light 
not  been  dimmed  by  the  shrouding  of  the  kingdom 
ideal  with  churchly  power,  it  might  have  shone  with 
greater  brilliancy  in  the  benighted  period. 

However,  we  may  trace  the  blood-tinged  line  of 
sacrifice  that  connects  Calvary  and  Bartholdi  Statue, 
and  see  how  Jesus'  value  of  human  beings  has  de- 
veloped into  the  great  ground-swell  of  democracy  that 
is  sweeping  the  world  to-day,  and  even  piercing  the 
monarchy-sodden  countries  of  Europe. 

In  its  development,  we  see  the  usual  order  of  prog- 
ress,— namely,  first  religious  liberty,  then  political 
freedom,  and  in  the  third  place  the  attainment  of  in- 
dustrial rights.  Judge  Elbert  H.  Gary,  president  of 
the  American  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  and  one  of 
the  world's  foremost  representatives  of  "big  busi- 
ness," when  speaking  to  employers  recently,  said  with 
strong  emphasis: 

"  Every  individual  should  under  all  circumstances  re- 
ceive from  all  others  honest  and  fair  consideration. 
There  should  not  be,  there  must  not  be,  any  discrimina- 
tion against  or  in  favour  of  any  particular  group  of 
persons  if  this  country  is  to  retain  the  position  among 
the  nations  to  which  it  is  justly  entitled." 


THE  KINGDOM  IDEAL  ENSWATHED      235 

In  the  great  Conference  of  World  Powers  for  the 
Reduction  of  Armaments,  which  assembled  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  on  Armistice  Day,  in  1921,  we  see  an- 
other great  step  in  the  world's  progress  toward  the 
ideals  of  the  Mediator.  Time  alone  will  reveal  the 
results  of  this  attempt  to  lessen  the  expenditures  for 
naval  and  military  equipment,  release  numbers  of  men 
from  military  pursuits  to  the  productive  occupation, 
and  make  future  wars  less  probable.  It  also  shows 
some  of  the  possibilities  of  world  government  by  con- 
ference. Aristide  Briand,  Premier  of  France,  in  dis- 
cussing the  difficulties  confronting  this  Conference, 
showed  how  the  situation  clears  when  men  get  to- 
gether with  a  real  desire  to  form  right  relationships. 
He  said: 

"  I  have  attended  many  international  conferences.  Be- 
fore some  of  them  met  it  was  said  that  the  difficulties 
were  so  great  as  to  make  a  rupture  certain.  Well,  the 
rupture  never  occurred,  and  it  is  an  established  fact  that 
when  you  sit  around  a  table  and  discuss  questions  frankly, 
looking  one  another  in  the  eye,  difficulties  have  a  way  of 
diminishing." 

The  imprisoned  germ  of  economic  emancipation 
has  burst  its  chrysalis  and  appeared  in  its  exquisite 
tints  of  beauty,  but  has  not  yet  attained  its  full  wing 
power.  To  behold  its  full  strength,  the  code  of  the 
Mediator  is  the  Mecca  back  to  which  we  must  jour- 
ney. That  alone  can  bring  about  personal  relation- 
ships that  will  insure  justice,  peace  and  prosperity. 


XIX 

BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOR 

"  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly  Father  planted  not, 
shall  be  rooted  up." — Matthew  15:13. 

"  Every  one  therefore  who  heareth  these  sayings  of 
mine  and  doeth  them,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  wise  man; 
who  built  his  house  upon  a  rock :  and  the  rain  descended, 
and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  beat  upon 
that  house;  and  it  fell  not:  for  it  was  founded  upon  a 
rock. 

"  And  every  one  that  heareth  these  words  of  mine, 
and  doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man, 
who  built  his  house  upon  the  sand:  and  the  rain  de- 
scended, and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and 
smote  upon  that  house;  and  it  fell:  and  great  was  the 
fall  thereof." — Matthew  7: 24-27. 

IN  the  early  chapters,  we  studied  the  growth  of 
industrialism  and  the  problems  to  which  it  gave 
rise.  Then  there  was  found  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  the  remedy  for  world-wide  unrest  and  national 
evils.  We  saw  His  remedy  rejected,  Himself  cruci- 
fied, and  the  natural  results  of  such  a  course  culmi- 
nating in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  over- 
throw of  the  nation.  But  having  made  provision  for 
an  after-death  life,  His  religion  proved  to  be  a  world 
power  and  its  principles  operative  for  all  time.  The 
fact  that  it  did  not  bring  industrial  and  national  relief 
was  found  to  have  been  due  to  the  deflection  of  its 
democracy  and  the  suppression  of  its  economic  mes- 
sage by  being  made  a  State  religion.    The  social  sed- 

236 


BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOR  237 

ative  of  mysticism,  Hellenism  and  Greek  philosophy 
took  out  the  economic  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  para- 
lyzed the  spiritual  democracy  of  His  message.  Chris- 
tianity went  on  its  mission  to  save  the  soul,  but  the 
industrial  systems  were  left  untouched,  and  "man's 
inhumanity  to  man "  continued  to  "  make  countless 
millions  mourn."     Macaulay  said: 

"  The  Church  was  the  servile  handmaid  of  monarchy 
and  the  steady  enemy  of  public  liberty." 

Rabbi  Menes  said  of  the  diluted  religion: 

"The  Christianity  of  to-day  is  not  the  old,  original 
Christianity.  It  is  not  Jesusism,  for  it  is  not  the  re- 
ligion which  Jesus  preached." 

Thus  fettered,  we  are  attempting  to  move  forward. 
Contradictory  as  it  may  seem,  we  are  many  times 
obliged  to  go  backward  in  order  to  get  forward.  The 
engineer  of  a  stalled  train  moves  backward  in  order 
to  gain  the  momentum  which  will  carry  him  over  the 
grade.  It  is  a  compliment  to  civilization  to  say  that  it 
is  on  the  up-grade ;  but  it  is  quite  disconcerting  to  find 
that  industrially  the  wheels  are  clogging  and  the  brakes 
tightening.  Accumulated  habits  and  ancient  customs 
are  proving  a  weighty  load.  Progress  is  tedious,  ef- 
fort is  tiresome  and  the  outlook  is  not  reassuring. 
The  hoped-for  new  day  is  still  in  the  dawning,  but  its 
sun  has  not  yet  risen. 

While  weighed  down  by  selfishness,  and  fettered  by 
the  chains  forged  in  other  ages,  the  awakening  de- 
mocracy senses  the  vision  of  social  justice  portrayed 
by  Micah,  in  the  following  paragraph: 


238         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOB 

"  He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good ;  and  what 
doth  Jehovah  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love 
kindness,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?" — Micah 
6:8. 

To  strip  away  the  accumulated  burdens,  and  obtain 
the  spirit  and  power  to  reach  this  ideal,  one  needs  to 
go  back  to  the  Mediator. 

We  need  to  go  back  to  Jesus  to  find  the  supreme 
social  philosopher  who  was  too  wise  to  set  forth  an 
economic  program  as  a  "  cure-all  "  for  the  ills  of  so- 
ciety. He  did  not  set  out  to  cure  society:  He  estab- 
lished a  religion  and  left  that  to  work  the  cure.  The 
economic  side  of  that  religion  has  not  attained  the 
success  that  could  have  been  wished.  Is  improvement 
possible? 

We  need  to  go  back  to  Jesus  as  the  ultimate  Source 
of  Authority,  not  to  some  school  of  economics.  Men 
grow  suspicious  at  the  mention  of  authority,  but  his- 
tory shows  that  without  it  nothing  great  has  been 
accomplished.  Tyranny  the  human  mind  resents,  but 
an  authority  that  coincides  with  reason  provides  a  re- 
pose that  is  inviting.  Economically,  it  decides  some- 
thing. 

Jesus'  authority  rests  not  alone  upon  His  miracles, 
or  upon  the  supernatural,  but  upon  the  fact  that  He 
interpreted  men  to  their  own  inner  consciousness,  as 
His  words  commended  themselves  to  the  good  judg- 
ment of  His  hearers.  The  saying  that  "  he  spake  as 
never  man  spake  "  was  an  endorsement  of  His  au- 
thority. To-day  we  can  find  no  other  source  of  com- 
pelling power.     We  cannot  go  to  the  churches  for  it, 


BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOR  239 

for  men  disagree  as  to  their  creeds;  we  cannot  go  to 
the  councils,  for  their  findings  are  accepted  by  only 
a  few  adherents.  The  implicit  confidence  that  the 
millions  have  in  Him  drives  us  back  to  Jesus.  He 
only  can  speak  with  the  authority  that  will  be  recog- 
nized by  all  classes.  Twenty  centuries  have  proved 
that  His  teaching  laid  the  foundation  of  equitable 
economics,  ideal  social  conditions,  and  an  industrial- 
ism based  upon  the  Golden  Rule. 

We  need  to  go  back  to  Jesus,  and  not  wait  for 
Jesus  to  come  back  to  earth.  The  opinion  that  Jesus' 
mission  has  failed,  especially  so  far  as  man's  physical 
needs  are  concerned,  too  largely  prevails.  This  gives 
rise  to  the  belief  that  we  shall  have  to  wait  until  He 
returns  to  the  earth  and  establishes  a  millennium  be- 
fore the  conditions  portrayed  for  His  kingdom  can 
prevail.  His  coming  will  be  joyous  only  to  those 
who  have  gone  back  to  His  truth  and  ideals,  and  not 
to  any  who  may  have  waited  idly  for  Him  to  return 
and  do  what  He  has  commissioned  His  people  to  do. 
Already,  all  authority  has  been  given  unto  Him  in 
heaven  and  upon  earth.  It  is  now  operative,  and  to 
solve  our  problems  it  needs  only  an  immediate  ap- 
plication to  every  sphere  of  human  life — spiritual, 
mental,  moral  and  physical. 

For  initiative,  we  need  to  go  back  to  His  wonderful 
personality,  and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
He  promised.  The  force  of  His  teaching  is  due  to 
the  personality  which  stands  back  of  it.  Across  the 
chasm  of  the  centuries  the  eye  of  faith  beholds  the 
Man  of  Galilee  as  the  World's  Mediator.     It  is  im- 


240         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

portant  for  one's  usefulness  in  the  workaday  world 
to  have  a  correct  vision  of  Him  as  He  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  social  and  political  conditions  of  His 
time.  In  the  midst  of  the  awful  surroundings  cited 
in  other  chapters,  His  first  message,  as  reported  by 
Luke,  was  this  quotation  from  Isaiah: 

"  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor;  he  hath 
sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliver- 
ance to  the  captives  and  recovery  of  sight  to  the  blind, 
to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  ac- 
ceptable year  of  the  Lord." 

In  answer  to  John's  inquiry,  He  said,  "  Tell  John 
the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them."  This 
would  convince  John,  since  it  was  very  unusual  for 
the  poor  to  have  any  consideration.  Here  is  a  still 
more  hopeful  message: 

"  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you 
and  learn  of  me;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart; 
and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is 
easy  and  my  burden  is  light." 

Professor  Harnack  says: 

"  These  words  dominated  Jesus'  whole  work  and  mes- 
sage: they  contain  the  theme  of  all  that  He  taught  and 
did.  ...  A  new  humanity  opposed  to  the  old,  men 
of  God — these  Jesus  was  first  to  create." 

Here  is  a  message  for  modern  times.  To  the  weak 
and  suffering,  it  is  a  message  of  cheer;  to  Christian 
men  in  positions  over  their  fellows,  it  is  a  message 


BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOB  241 

from  their  Master,  asking  that  they  do  unto  others  as 
they  would  have  him  do  unto  them — the  message  of 
a  sympathetic  Mediator. 

To  go  back  to  Jesus  for  a  revelation  of  the  real 
nature  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  would  remove  much 
of  the  misapprehension,  and  antagonism  to  religion, 
under  which  many  folks  labour.  A  modern  social 
writer,  whose  utterances  have  misled  sincere  men, 
summarizing  a  discussion  of  this  subject  says: 

"  These  then  are  the  three  counts  in  the  indictment 
which  the  democracy  brings  against  the  idea  of  a  fa- 
therly creator  and  ruler  of  the  universe:  First,  that  it 
is  unbiblical,  and  was  a  '  devised  fable '  craftily  inter- 
polated into  the  Christian  system  by  Greek  metaphysi- 
cians at  the  behest  of  their  Roman  overlords.  Second, 
that  it  is  untrue,  because  the  forces  of  nature  do  not 
operate  on  any  basis  of  intelligence  and  kindliness ;  they 
are  brute  powers  which  are  not  to  be  prayed  unto,  but 
mastered.  Third,  that  it  is  immoral,  in  as  much  as  it 
presents  to  fundamental  democracy  the  opposition  of 
fundamental  absoluteism.  And  the  last  is  the  most 
damnatory  count  in  the  indictment." 

God  pictured  as  a  despotic  Czar  or  a  brute  force! 
The  only  answer  needed  is  to  go  back  to  Jesus  and 
study  the  sweet  relationship  of  father  and  child  which 
He  presents.  The  statement  is  but  a  further  proof 
that  the  natural  man  does  not  know  the  fatherhood  of 
God  in  the  Christian  sense.  Proletarian  and  prophet, 
wage-earner  and  wealth  owner,  all  need  to  sit  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus  while  He  interprets  the  Father. 

Churches  need  to  go  back  to  the  ideals  of  Jesus  as 
a  means  of  enlarging  their  usefulness  to  workingmen 


242         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

and  their  families.  There  has  been  a  drifting  away; 
from  churches.  Now  a  more  serious  danger  is  seen 
on  the  horizon:  there  is  growing  a  strong  and  deter- 
mined spirit  of  antagonism.  When  conscience  is  for 
a  church,  there  is  hope:  men  are  not  going  far  away 
from  the  anchor  of  the  soul.  When  conscience  turns 
against  a  church,  and  men  believe  they  are  doing  God 
service  by  antagonizing  its  work,  then  disaster  must 
overtake  both  church  and  people. 

To  go  back  to  Jesus  is  essential  to  the  success  of  so- 
cial interests.  The  most  thoughtful  social  workers 
understand  that  these  interests  must  be  rooted  in  re- 
ligion, or  they  soon  perish.  The  short  life  of  social 
enthusiasm  has  surprised  many.  Here  is  the  expla- 
nation: it  has  been  destitute  of  religion.  Richard 
Whiteing  says: 

"  Democracy  is  a  religion,  or  nothing,  with  its  ritual, 
its  ceremonies,  its  cenobites,  its  government  as  a  church 
— above  all,  its  organized  sacrifice  of  the  altar,  the  sacri- 
fice of  self.  This  is  the  deepest  craving  of  human  na- 
ture. All  attempts  to  sacrifice  man's  heroism  to  his  in- 
terests have  failed.  His  goodness  must  make  him 
smart." 

Mazanni  has  well  said: 

"  Great  social  transformations  have  never  been,  and 
never  will  be,  other  than  the  application  of  a  religious 
principle,  of  a  moral  development,  of  a  strong,  active 
faith.  On  the  day  when  the  democracy  shall  elevate  it- 
self to  a  position  of  a  religious  party  it  will  carry  away 
the  victory,  not  before.  .  .  .  The  religious  question 
pursues  me  like  a  remorse ;  it  is  the  only  one  of  any  real 
importance." 


BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOR  243 

Here  is  another  quotation  from  a  forceful  writer, 
who  represented  an  aggressive  wing  of  the  industrial 
party  in  the  United  States: 

"By  holding  with  Jesus,  the  democracy  obtains  the 
momentum  of  the  centuries.  Historic  continuity  is  of 
incalculable  advantage.  Had  the  Strum  and  Drang  pe- 
riod in  Europe  a  century  ago  identified  itself  with  the 
stream  of  democracy  which  issues  from  Galilee,  it  might 
have  been  other  than  a  fire  in  straw,  and  the  world 
might  have  been  saved  from  the  reaction  which  fol- 
lowed, lasting  seven  decades.  From  the  summit  of 
twenty  centuries,  Jesus  overleans  the  democracy  of  to- 
day, and  is  ambitious  to  reinforce  it  with  ancestral  wis- 
dom and  the  might  of  martyrs.  It  is  no  small  advantage 
to  the  social  movement  that  it  can  claim  as  its  Lord  Him 
who  redated  the  calendar.  The  springs  of  modern  de- 
mocracy are  in  Nazareth.  .  .  .  The  democracy 
needs  Jesus  to  stiffen  it  against  surrender  and  self -be- 
trayal."— Bouck  White. 

Does  not  this  indicate  a  willingness  on  part  of  the 
workers  to  join  hands  in  a  movement  leading  back  to 
Jesus  and  making  Him  Mediator?  That  religion  is 
the  supreme  power  in  human  life  is  the  testimony  of 
another,  who  says: 

"  If  the  social  movement  were  to  be  lopped  away  from 
its  holdfast  in  religion,  that  movement  would  receive 
therein  its  death  mark." 

Business  reasons,  also,  demand  our  going  back  to 
Jesus.  To  allow  His  code  to  settle  disputes  between 
capital  and  labour,  and  between  warring  nations, 
would  usher  in  better  business  conditions  and  estab- 
lish  commercial   faith   and   confidence  more  firmly. 


244  JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

Adding  prosperity  to  mills  and  shops,  it  would  in- 
crease the  volume  of  business  in  every  line,  and  bring 
plenty  to  the  home  of  the  workingman — a  plenty  that 
would  repaint  roses  upon  the  cheeks  of  his  wife,  in 
bringing  increased  comfort  and  education  to  his  chil- 
dren. 

We  need  to  go  back  to  Jesus  for  a  workable  in- 
terpretation of  the  Golden  Rule.  It  has  been  said 
that  "the  Golden  Rule  in  business  would  overturn 
our  whole  economic  system."  If  this  be  true,  it  is  the 
most  damning  thing  that  has  yet  been  said  about  the 
"  system."  Possibly  a  Tolstoian  interpretation  of 
the  Golden  Rule  would  result  in  confusion.  It  needs 
to  be  understood  in  the  light  of  the  Second  Com- 
mandment. To  "  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself  "  re- 
quires a  knowledge  of  equitable  self-love  and  some 
degree  of  enlightened  self-respect.  To  do  unto  others 
as  we  would  that  others  should  do  unto  us,  requires 
a  just  conception  of  what  we  would  do  unto  them,  and 
not  merely  a  selfish  desire  to  have  them  do  good 
unto  us.  Besides,  the  initiative  is  with  the  individual 
who  is  privileged  to  do  the  gracious  act,  and  not  the 
one  who  might  be  seeking  it.  Economically,  the  man 
of  the  street  would  like  to  exchange  places  with  the 
millionaire ;  but  in  imagination,  let  him  put  himself  in 
the  other  man's  place — become  the  millionaire — 
would  he  then  be  willing  to  do  what  he  now  wants 
the  millionaire  to  do?  If  not,  has  he  any  right  to  even 
desire  such  a  change? 

The  solution  lies  in  the  fact  that  where  Jesus  is 
Mediator,  He  makes  the  Golden  Rule  workable  by 


BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOR  245 

regulating  the  thoughts,  forming  the  characters  and 
guiding  the  desires  of  men — not  by  turning  loose  un- 
bridled passions  and  covetous  ambitions.  Right  re- 
lations will  assure  its  righteous  working. 

The  character  and  conduct  of  those  who  do  thus 
accept  Jesus  modifies  the  thinking  and  attitude  of  men 
who  do  not  accept  Him,  by  moulding  public  opinion 
and  fixing  standards  of  right.  Motive  must  be  con- 
sidered as  well  as  meaning  in  the  observance  of  the 
Golden  Rule:  Jesus  furnishes  both. 

Perhaps  the  strongest  reason  for  going  back  to  the 
ideals  of  Jesus  yet  remains, — namely,  to  establish  the 
new  democracy,  which  the  World  War  has  given  us. 
Democracy  was  the  magic  word  in  that  war.  To 
make  the  world  safe  for  it,  and  it  safe  for  the  world, 
was  a  task  to  which  the  armies  gave  themselves  with 
a  spirit  of  heroic  sacrifice. 

This  has  led  us  to  examine  democracy  as  never  be- 
fore. Is  it  but  a  name  to  conjure  with,  something 
abstract  and  elusive,  practical  only  on  election  day,  or 
is  a  great  principle  permeating  and  controlling  every 
phase  of  life?  What  is  going  to  be  the  moral  equip- 
ment of  a  democratized  world?  Even  the  worst  of 
the  old  autocracies  organized  a  social  order  and 
maintained  some  kind  of  law.  Throwing  off  this, 
Russia  turned  to  Bolshevism.  Is  that  to  be  a  world- 
wide result? 

In  the  present  crisis,  Christians  feel  that  they  have 
a  large  share  of  responsibility,  and  that  in  Jesus' 
teaching  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  the  father- 
hood of  God  there  is  the  open  sesame  to  the  solution. 


246         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

However,  the  real  attitude  of  most  of  those  active  in 
the  democratic  revolt  in  the  Old  World  is  that  of 
bitter  hostility  to  the  churches.  Bolshevism  refuses 
to  acknowledge  God  in  government.  It  is  idle  to  in- 
dulge in  Utopian  dreams  of  beneficent  power  while 
that  power  is  being  questioned  and  assailed  by  forces 
that  cannot  be  ignored.  In  the  world-fellowship  of 
to-day,  no  country  is  exempt  from  the  spirit  of  un- 
rest that  is  stalking  abroad,  seeking  that  which  will 
bring  the  greatest  good  to  oppressed  humanity. 

We  have  seen  that  Christianity  grew  into  a  sys- 
tem under  influences  that  were  not  democratic;  that 
it  was  born  under  Roman  imperialism,  and  by  the 
Middle  Ages  had  become  a  rival  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire. The  best  that  early  Christianity  could  do  was 
to  accept  the  social,  political  and  industrial  conditions 
of  autocracy,  and  ameliorate  them  by  acts  of  mercy. 
For  instance,  it  could  not  liberate  slaves,  but  it  could 
urge  kindly  treatment  of  them. 

Growing  up  in  the  midst  of  such  ethical  ideals, 
Christianity  embodied  many  of  them  in  its  doctrines 
and  morals.  Democracy  is  now  emphasizing  the 
worth  of  the  individual  and  is  bringing  about  a  dif- 
ferent conception.  Will  Christianity  apply  the  sieve 
and  scalpel,  and  adapt  its  philosophy  to  the  newer 
ideals,  or  will  it  part  company  with  the  dawning  de- 
mocracy ? 

Autocracy  means  power  handed  down  from  a 
ruler,  who  by  virtue  of  certain  claimed  rights,  as- 
sumes the  responsibility  of  government.  Democracy 
is  power  handed  up  from  the  people,  with  whom  the 


BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOR  247 

responsibility  of  the  government  rests.  Its  rulers 
govern  in  behalf  of  the  citizens.  Democracy  must  be 
a  frame  of  mind  before  it  can  successfully  become 
a  form  of  government.  It  must  possess  the  spirit  of 
altruism,  and  must  have  a  right  standard  of  intelli- 
gent and  conscientious  action.  Where  can  these  be 
found  except  in  the  code  of  Jesus? 

The  largest  task  of  democracy  is  to  guard  the 
rights  of  all:  to  secure  and  maintain  equal  rights  for 
every  one.  In  an  autocracy,  the  ruler  grants  special 
privileges,  and  thus  creates  upper,  middle  and  lower 
classes,  ad  infinitum.  Democracy  means  the  elimina- 
tion of  class  privileges  and  an  equal  chance  for  all. 
The  rights  of  the  weaker  must  not  be  allowed  to  suf- 
fer at  the  hands  of  the  stronger.  Covetousness  must 
not  be  the  driving  power.  More  intelligence  and  al- 
truism are  necessary  in  a  democracy  than  under  any 
other  conditions  in  the  world.  When  a  revolution 
loses  its  moral  character  and  becomes  a  class  struggle, 
it  loses  its  democracy  in  Bolshevism.  The  weakness 
of  the  Bolsheviki  movement  is  that  it  is  for  one  class 
only — the  proletarian.  It  thus  perpetuates  class  dis- 
tinction and  becomes  an  autocracy,  as  truly  as  was  the 
reign  of  the  Czar,  and  so  far  in  hands  far  less  capa- 
ble.    It  is  the  farthest  remove  from  democracy. 

Can  the  world  tendency  toward  democracy  in  na- 
tional affairs  continue  without  permeating  religious 
and  industrial  life?  Shall  serious  inquirers  be  turned 
away,  or  shall  we  examine  the  foundations,  and  show 
the  provision  which  the  Mediator  has  made  for  a  re- 
ligious faith  that  embraces  the  highest  form  of  de- 


248         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

mocracy?  From  His  teaching  democracy  sprang, 
and  within  the  realm  of  that  teaching  a  place  must  be 
found  for  its  highest  development. 

Sweeping  aside  the  webs  that  have  been  woven 
about  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  we  find  that  it  is  entirely 
free  from  the  "  overhead  "  authority  which  the  ris- 
ing tide  of  democracy  so  greatly  fears.  Its  motive  is 
love,  not  compulsion,  and  it  has  no  "  overhead " 
government  in  creed  or  conduct.  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  not  "overhead"  rule:  "the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  within  you."  It  is  not  some  cataclysm  that 
comes  with  observation,  but  is  the  reign  of  the  laws 
of  heaven  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  women,  and 
working  out  through  their  efforts.  God  does  not 
speak  from  the  skies  and  direct  the  course  of  events 
by  "overhead"  commands:  He  works  through  hu- 
man hearts  and  by  individual  and  organized  efforts 
leavens  civilization  and  guides  the  forces  that  are 
shaping  destiny. 

If  the  new  democracy  carries  us  back  to  the  ideals 
of  Jesus,  it  will  bring  a  wider  and  stronger  evangel- 
ism. It  will  appeal  to  folks  to  consecrate  their  lives 
to  God  with  a  broad,  altruistic,  self-sacrificing  spirit, 
that  they  may  help  to  bring  heavenly  conditions  upon 
earth,  and  not  alone  that  they  may  be  ready  to  enter 
heaven  hereafter.  Jesus  appealed  to  men  to  help  to 
establish  the  reign  of  God  upon  earth.  Possibly  we 
have  been  more  solicitous  to  get  folks  into  heaven 
than  to  get  heaven  into  folks.  Heaven  is  as  attractive 
as  ever,  but  the  stronger  call  that  folks  will  feel  will 
be  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  for  the  sake  of 


BACK  TO  THE  MEDIATOR  249 

their  own  souls,  the  welfare  of  humanity,  and  the 
glory  of  God.  Such  a  motive  will  add  power  to  the 
forces  of  righteousness  in  the  industrial  and  political 
world.  Soldiers  fought  for  democracy.  Shall  we  do 
less  than  carry  our  religion  into  it,  and  make  democ- 
racy safe  for  the  world,  and  the  world  safe  for  de- 
mocracy? Democracy  has  reached  the  place  in  its 
development  where  it  must  function  or  fossilize. 
Christianized,  it  can  meet  the  world's  need,  but  not 
otherwise. 

The  new  democracy  is  destined  to  dominate  in  the 
realm  of  industry,  also.  Inspired  by  the  spirit  of  the 
Mediator,  employers  and  employees  will  be  ready  to 
democratize  the  industrial  world,  as  well  as  the  po- 
litical sphere.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  while  de- 
mocracy has  been  gaining  control  of  politics,  autoc- 
racy has  been  growing  in  industrialism.  The  con- 
flict which  this  has  produced  is  everywhere  apparent 
in  the  awful  turmoil  and  unrest  that  are  visible  upon 
the  crater  of  the  industrial  volcano.  The  message  of 
Jesus  will  still  the  threatened  eruption,  but  only  by 
His  spirit  of  mediation  and  fair  dealing  can  the  high- 
est welfare  of  all  parties  be  attained. 

However,  a  hopeful  sign  of  the  times  is  seen  in  the 
new  democracy  which  is  permeating  industrialism. 
An  illustration  of  its  working  may  be  seen  in  the  de- 
sire of  many  corporations  to  have  their  employees 
become  stockholders.  Stock  is  being  sold  on  special 
terms,  and  every  employee  may  become  a  share- 
holder, and  eventually  have  an  interest  in  the  company 
for  which  he  works,   becoming  both   capitalist   and 


250         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

workingman  and  being  partially  his  own  employer. 
That  employees  appreciate  this  courtesy  is  proved  by 
the  number  of  them  who  have  purchased  the  stock. 
The  plan  is  only  in  its  infancy,  but  they  now  own 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  stock. 

The  Christian  virtues  of  thrift  and  honesty  on  part 
of  the  workers,  coupled  with  the  desire  for  fair  deal- 
ing and  profit-sharing  on  part  of  employers,  are  also 
helping  to  democratize  industry.  Christian  democ- 
racy is  first  a  spirit  of  cooperation,  and  afterward  a 
form  of  successful  action  in  the  industrial  world. 
The  principles  of  Jesus'  teaching  produce  this  dispo- 
sition in  every  employer  and  employee  who  receive 
them  in  an  unprejudiced  and  open-minded  manner. 
Because  they  do  this,  they  will  meet  the  demands  of 
twentieth  century  democracy  in  every  line  of  human 
endeavour,  and  will  beget  an  evolution  of  well-being 
which  will  prevent  a  revolution,  with  all  its  disastrous 
results. 

To  go  back  to  the  ideals  of  the  Mediator,  allow 
Him  to  create  right  relationships  one  with  another, 
and  seek  His  spirit  of  conciliation  when  differences 
arise  is  the  only  safe  course  for  all  the  world's  varied 
and  momentous  interests,  as  truly  as  for  the  individual 
soul's  eternal  welfare.  "  In  none  other  is  there  sal- 
vation: for  neither  is  there  any  other  name  under 
heaven,  that  is  given  among  men,  wherein  we  must 
be  saved"  from  our  sins  against  men,  as  truly  as 
from  our  sin  against  God. 


XX 

SOLIDARITY  OF  INTERESTS 

WORKING— TOGETHER— WITH  GOD 

"  Working  together  with  him." — 2  Corinthians  6: 1. 

"  Finally,  brethren,  whatsoever  things  are  true,  what- 
soever things  are  honourable,  whatsoever  things  are 
just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are 
lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be 
any  virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these 
things." — Philip pians  4:8. 

"  For  as  he  thinketh  within  himself,  so  is  he." 

— Proverbs  23:7. 

WHAT  an  attractive  partnership !  Instead  of 
suspicion,  distrust  and  enmity,  capital  and 
labour  may  be  fellow-workers,  and  when 
they  thus  get  to  working  together  it  will  usher  in  the 
dawn  of  a  prosperity  such  as  the  world  has  not  yet 
seen.  But  the  highest  privilege,  and  that  which 
makes  this  lower  one  possible,  is  that  of  being  fellow- 
workers  with  God.  Making  Jesus  Mediator  makes 
God  the  Senior  Member  of  the  firm,  and  the  Master 
Workman  on  every  job.  It  is  only  as  He  thus  be- 
comes the  Helper  of  the  individual  that  His  power 
can  reach  the  masses;  for  the  gospel  of  social  re- 
demption grows  out  of  individual  redemption,  as  all 
human  rights  grow  out  of  personal  rights.     Right  re- 

251 


2C2  JESUS  AS  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOE 

lations  with  Jehovah  bring  right  relations  with  one 
another,  and  weld  together  all  interests. 

Factionalism  must  bring  disaster.  Economic  Bol- 
shevism undertook  to  exploit  the  people  of  Russia  for 
the  benefit  of  a  small  fraction  of  the  population, — 
namely,  the  wage-earners.  It  is  producing  the  im- 
-ishment  and  starvation  of  the  masses  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  practical  enslavement  of  the  wage-earn- 
ers themselves,  through  a  system  of  labour  conscrip- 
tion. Rome  controlled  well  her  classes;  but  Rome 
fell,  and  her  classes  suffered  with  the  masses:  the 
slave  owner  and  the  slave  fell  together.  So  it  must 
ever  be:  some  classes  may  obtain  a  temporary,  seem- 
ing advantage;  but  where  there  is  class  struggle,  all 
must  eventually  go  down  together. 

To  attain  that  ideal  condition  where  we  are  work- 
ers together,  and  all  working  with  God,  if  difficult. 
It  is  life's  highest  attainment.  The  prejudices  of 
years  of  training  in  militarism,  commercialism  and 
industrialism  have  to  be  overcome,  and  the  innate  per- 
y  of  the  human  heart  conquered.  The  fetter-,  of 
a  monarchical  mould,  with  all  its  forms  and  mecha- 

have  to  be  broken  from  the  democracy  of  J 
A  selfish  love  of  the  world,  with  the  lure  of  its  pleas- 
has  to  be  conquered,  that  the  soul  may  be  born 
anew,  and  dominated  by  the  spirit  of  a  sacrificial  life. 
The  spirit  of  selfishness  must  die,  that  the  spirit  of 
altruism  may  live. 

The  task  is  difficult,  but  it  is  not  hopeless.     To  ac- 

'  •- diator,  and  I  lis  teaching  as  the  law 

of  adjudication,  would  bring  the  power  of  heaven  to 


SOLIDARITY  OF  LSTERES  P3  .\%3 

and  to  assure,  the  completion  of  the  task.  All 
power  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  in  His  hands.  Is 
an>        g      o  difficu::       :  Him  to  accompli? 

But  the  inspiration  whole  movemen;  lies  in 

the  thought  that  i:  h  the  effort.    The  bkxx: 

mil       -    slain  in 

squalor  and  disease   found  in  the  industrial  world 
plead   for  it  most  pit^  ibe  specter  tha: 

be?  captain  of  industry  through  his  well-ap- 

pointed office  and   palatial  home  rurmqg 

>ouL  deman.     g     ts  equitable  solution. 
help  banish  all  -  ..ice  and  pkntv.  joy 

an.  in  their  >  a  God-given  privilege  in 

which  the  noblest  sot: b  af  earth       gttf  ::  a 

part.  '■'■■  x       .reater  honour  could  be 

be>towe\i  upon  a  human  being  than  tha:  of  "  polking 
together  with  God  '"  in  exalting     ts   5  to  His  rightful 
s  Mi  s      ell  is  Ski  bur,  and 

.manity  to  its  h_    est        a  .    here  and  he 

ber, 

Wil  1  la  correct  . 

of  in:.        -     oast   be   r.wgnired  IS  .areme  im- 

portance.    Only  this  will  save  DC 

he  past  which  has 
bee-.  autocr...  s    ag*. 

sJ  k  d  sst  -     a::  mast  1 
CTS  must  be  i\  s  brethr.  her  wo 

capital    Capital 
mu>:       seen  as  parts  of  one  great  mom 

pront  and   c  I   to  each 

nun  the  good  :.:-.c  of 


254         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

the  public;  but  as  enemies,  they  can  drive  industrial- 
ism to  suicide,  cripple  business,  unsettle  society  and 
put  the  firebrands  of  hell  beneath  the  altars  of  church 
and  home. 

The  man  who  works  with  his  hands  is  likely  to 
look  askance  at  the  man  who  works  with  his  brains, 
while  professional  life  is  often  regarded  as  far  re- 
moved from  that  of  the  wage-earner.  As  there  are 
many  members  in  one  body,  and  all  members  have  not 
the  same  office,  so  to  carry  on  the  diverse  interests  of 
modern  civilization  every  possible  kind  of  labour  is 
necessary.  Quite  frequently,  the  man  who  is  called  a 
"capitalist "  works  as  hard  as  any  of  his  employees. 
Brain  and  hand,  and  means  and  muscle,  are  true  yoke- 
fellows in  modern  industrialism.  Without  the  in- 
ventor, there  could  be  no  machinery;  without  capital, 
machinery  could  not  be  constructed;  without  the 
operator,  machinery  would  be  useless.  The  follow- 
ing lines  by  Breton  Braley  emphasize  this  fact: 

"  Back  of  the  beating  hammer 

By  which  the  steel  is  wrought, 
Back  of  the  workshop's  clamour 

The  seeker  may  find  the  Thought. 
The  Thought  that  is  ever  master 

Of  iron  and  steam  and  steel, 
That  rises  above  disaster 

And  tramples  it  under  heel ! 

"  The  drudge  may  fret  and  tinker, 
Or  labour  with  dusty  brows, 
But  back  of  him  stands  the  Thinker, 
The  clear-eyed  man  who  knows; 


SOLIDARITY  OF  INTERESTS  265 

For  into  each  plow  or  sabre, 
Each  piece  and  part  and  whole, 

Must  go  the  brains  of  labour, 
Which  gives  the  work  a  soul. 

"  Back  of  the  motors  humming, 

Back  of  the  belts  that  sing, 
Back  of  the  hammers  drumming, 

Back  of  the  cranes  that  swing, 
There  is  the  eye  which  scans  them 

Watching  through  stress  and  strain, 
There  is  the  mind  which  plans  them — 

Back  of  the  brawn,  the  brain. 

"  Might  of  the  roaring  boiler, 

Force  of  the  engine's  thrust, 
Strength  of  the  sweating  toiler, 

Greatly  in  these  we  trust. 
But  back  of  them  stands  the  Schemer, 

The  Thinker  who  drives  things  through; 
Back  of  the  Job — the  Dreamer 

Who's  making  the  dream  come  true ! " 

Here  we  see  the  solidarity  of  industrialism  and  the 
interdependence  of  one  kind  of  labour  upon  another. 
A  creed  that  would  teach  that  "  one  is  your  Master, 
even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren,"  would  go  far 
toward  giving  Him  His  rightful  place  as  Mediator 
and  solidifying  our  interests  by  clustering  them  all 
around  Him.  If  He  could  rule  in  the  workaday 
world  as  truly  and  completely  as  in  solemn  monas- 
teries, ivied  cathedrals  and  gilded  churches,  what  a 
halo  of  peace,  and  what  a  reign  of  prosperity  and 
plenty  would  bless  this  sin-suffering  and  war-ridden 
world,  and  all  its  struggling  inhabitants! 


266         JESUS  AN  ECONOMIC  MEDIATOR 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator, 

And  watch  from  sun  to  sun; 

Yea,  stand  beside  the  toiling  ones: 
See  their  honest  work  is  done. 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator, 

And  in  the  office  stay. 
Scan  the  ledgers  for  the  costs 

And  see  the  wage  they  pay. 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator, 

And  into  councils  go. 
When  there  injustice  lifts  its  head, 

A  better  way  Thou'lt  show. 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator, 
And  when  fierce  anger  rises, 

Help  men  to  see  that  peaceful  ways 
Have  won  earth's  highest  prizes. 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator ! 

Bid  world  wars  to  cease; 
Bring  better  victories  to  men, 

Born  of  Thine  own  sweet  peace. 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator, 

And  change  the  hearts  of  men 

So  they'll  accept  Thy  code  and  ways, 
And  ne'er  need  to  strike  again. 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator ! 

Help  all  to  thus  choose  Thee ; 
And  from  the  evils  round  about 

Keep  all  the  workers  free. 

Jesus,  be  Thou  Mediator ! 

Bring  heaven's  Spirit  down: 
Put  Thy  truth  in  every  mind, 

And  Altruism  crown. 


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